The Abandonment Trials
by dreambigwh11
Summary: He wasn't stupid, but he wasn't smart. But a chance encounter in a dark alley has changed his whole world, and opened his eyes. Can he manage this new life? Or will he crumple away? And will his secrets destroy him in the end? Semi-smart Naruto, good Sasuke in the future, lemons in later chapters, NaruHina, SasuSaku, NejiTen and ShikaTem among others. Enjoy!
1. Black

"Your tongue is like a knife, and your heart, a dagger;  
I cannot feel a thing because I am dead inside."

* * *

He was walking down the street, enjoying the breeze flowing through his hair as he headed towards Konoha Academy, where he was training to be a ninja of the leaf.  
Notorious for being hated for reasons no one dare to speak, lest they have a death-wish, Naruto Uzumaki was trying his hardest to deal with it, to act like he knew none better. It was hard, but putting on that fake smile was penultimately saving him from a death more certain than taxes.

'Ugh, I hate class, at least Iruka-sensei is cool.' the blonde thinks to himself, wondering what people will think about him actually bein early for once. Well, that's 'cuz he wasn't being chased by an angry mob of blood-thirsty, Uchiha loving villagers that want to 'finish the job the 4th started'. Whatever that means.

He walked into the door of the class held by what he considered a brother of all but blood, he's greeted by a few weird looks and a screaming banshee.

"Naruto-baka, you're on time for once! What's the occasion, stopped being a loser? Ha, as if!" Sakura Haruno was the daughter of a widowed council member, famous for her shrieking voice and vibrant, life ruining, soul sucking pink hair. Log, how was that natural? It's like a peacock, only the peacock is probably cooler.

"Hey Naruto, glad to see you're early." Iruka Umino was a 2nd year class teacher at the Konoha ninja academy, and had befriended the young blonde after seeing a lot of himself in him, yea sure his parents were killed by the beast he housed, but if you couldn't tell the difference between a jail and the jailee, you were dumb.

"Nyeh Iruka-sensei, you know why I'm early." Naruto shoots a look at Iruka, who receives it with a frown. He didn't get chased by a mob today. Huh, must be something in the air, besides their ego's and noses. He start's scanning the room for a spot to sit at, eyeing one next to a dark haired kunoichi named Hinata Hyuuga.

Hinata Hyuuga, he always thought she was weird, but she smelled like lavender and cinnamon buns so she couldn't be that bad. He took a seat next to her instantly noticing her face go blood red. 'She must be sick' "Nyeh Hinata-chan, are you feeling ok?"

"G-gomen, N-Naruto-k-k-kun, I-I'm ok, t-thanks f-f-for a-asking." she stutters out. Of course he didn't know that she had the biggest crush on him ever since they were younger. She had always wanted to approach him and tell him how it is, but everytime she did she would bee too weak to say anything to him.

Weak. The word best described her, or so she thought. Did no one ever teach her that it's ok to feel nervous? Damn Hyuuga clan and their proverbial ass-sticks.

Then we had the Uchiha heir, Sasuke Uchiha, notoriously emo, grunts a lot, wants to avenge his clan, and likes strawberry-banana daquiri's. Don't judge a  
After his brother, Itachi, had slaughtered the entire clan minus our brooding buddy, he had dedicated his life to being strong and proving that the Uchiha were the "dominant clan in Konoha".

"Now, everyone settle down, it's time to begin..." Iruka drags off as he starts writing on a white board: The Theory of Chakra Manipulation.

The first and second Hokage's being the best examples. Hashirama Senju with his wood art and Tobirama Senju with his water art. And it droned on and on and on.

"Psst, hey, Hinata-chan, are you bored, 'cuz I know I am" Naruto whispers to the woman next to him, earning a giggle as Iruka drilled on about chakra, manipulating it and the theory behind the true beginnings of it. 'Today is gonna be a boring day'

And so it was...

* * *

Now walking down the road headed to Ichiraku's fro some post-torture/class ramen, Naruto kicks a rock along the way, killing time and thanking the log that there isn't anyone to mess with him.

'Log I am starving, today was...wait, what's that?' he asks himself, hearing a soft sob coming from the alley next to him, before it started weeping in a consistent manor, seemingly drawing him into it like a siren song.

He walks into the alley and pulls out a kunai, unsure of what lays ahead of him. "Who is it, and is anything wrong?" he announces himself to no action other than more constant and persistent weeping from the strange lady. He draw's in closer and slowly puts a hand on her shoulder, softly, as to not startle her.

"Hey, lady, are you ok-what the..." he never got to finish that thought as the lady, albeit in disguise, whips her head around and locks her eyes with Naruto's, freezing him in his place as he slowly starts falling backwards, hitting the ground hard and knocking him out cold as the lady just smiles.

"Oh, Naruto, you have a lot to learn, farewell for now, my friend." and with that, the lady swiftly disappeared into the skyline, not to be seen by anyone.

* * *

'The hell, where am I?' Naruto asks himself as he awakens from his slumber, waking to what seems to be a cold, damp sewer with a giant cage in front of him. He tries to recall what happened to him to no avail, as he gets cut off by the voice of...a lady?

"Naruto-kun, we finally meet, I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but you may call me Kurama." A shockingly sweet females voice comes from behind the bars as a woman comes into view, with looks rivalling Mei Terumi and Tsunade of the Sannin, not that he knew who they were, anyways. She had long, flowing red hair paired with a red dress, and red heels, with breasts the size of Tsunade's. Paired with her stunning blue eyes and calm figure, she was every boy's wet dream. Except Naruto's.

"Y-you! It was you all along! You've made my life a living hell, you fox!" he yells at the lady, his fists shaking from anger, sadness and disappointment.

"Look, young kit, there's a lot of thing's you don't understand, and I believe that's why you're here today." she began talking, sweetly and smoothly, as smooth as flowing water down a lazy river.

"Uhuh, and why should I believe a single word you say?" he crosses his arms now, staring straight into the eye's of the woman, only to feel the scene in his mind warp, changing to a dark and grim night, the night the woman in question attacked the leaf village-Konoha.

"See for yourself." she simply says, as it shows her in human form meeting with a random masked man with a lone eye hole, showing a blazing Sharingan.

 _"You see, Kurama-chan, I can free you! Just do as I ask and all shall be granted!" the man shouted gleefully, making eye contact with the fox leader._

 _"Go fuck yourself, Madara! I don't want anything from you. I am contempt with my current container and that's how it's gonna stay!" She shouts back at the intruder, trying not to let him catch her eye contact for too long, unfortunately, all things come to an end..._

 _"Oh? I guess I'll just have to...persuade you." he grins deviously at the end as he looks at the Kitsune woman dead in the eye, she struggles to break from the Sharingan hold but she fails to, as she succumbs to the hold on her soul._

 _"D-damn you, Madara!" she shouts one last time, as it takes full possession of her, her eye's now showing the dreaded Mangekyou instead of her soft, blue eyes._

 _"Hmm, no. Let's go, Kurama-chan, time to destroy!" and with that final statement, the scene went black as he tore the Kyuubi out of the gut of her former container. And so was the end of Kushina Uzumaki, wife to Minato Namikaze, 4th Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves.  
_  
"You see, I had nothing to do with this, Naruto-kun. I hate and despise that wretched Uchiha named Madara!" she spits out his name, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth

"Kyuu...I... just don't know what so say, honestly. I'm at a loss for words for the first time in forever. Who...who was the pervious container, before me?" he asks, looking at the fox with weary eyes that long for the answer that he wants to hear.

"Naruto-kun, that was your mother, Kushina Uzumaki..." she trails off, seeing the look of shuck and hurt on his face as tears begin to swell, threatening to leak out and drop down his face.

"N...no...You're lying...there's no way!" he yells out, not specifically at her, just in anger as he falls into a full fledged sob, weeping for the loss of his mother. "A-and what about my father?"

"I mean, come on, blonde hair blue eyes, last name Uzumaki, his mom was married to the fourth Hokage...you catch my drift?" she states in a sarcastic yet joking way, causing him to smile back at her.

"Haha, nice one kyuu, now be real, who was my father." he states seriously, before noticing her smile drop as she puts on a serious face too. "Yea, no, no way. Seriously? What the fuck kinda bastard seals the damn Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine tailed demon fox who everyone fears and hates into his own sons stomach!?"

"Hey, I'm hurt. He didn't have much of an option anyways, he trusted you, Naruto-kun. He knew you were strong enough to contain me, and if he had grabbed any other child, they would've died. I'm osrry it has to be this way, but he did at least leave you a letter." she gestures to the seal on her cage, which was glowing. He took the hint and reached into the seal and grabbed the letter, hoping it was a confirmation of his greatest dream/worst nightmare.

 _THE FINAL LETTER AND STATEMENT FROM MINATO NAMIKAZE, TO HIS SON, NARUTO UZUMAKI-NAMIKAZE_

 _"Naruto, if you're reading this then everything has gone to plan, and know that this was the only way for it to happen._  
 _I've sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of you, as you have no doubt found out by now, because a man named Madara Uchiha took her out of your mothers seal, causing her to go mad and wreak havoc on the village._  
 _My time with you is numbered so I'll let her explain that, I have more pressing things to explain to you._  
 _Son, I know how the villagers can be and if what I've feared came true then they hate you, I know they can be blind sometimes but I implore you not to hate them back._  
 _Instead, prove them wrong, grow to be the strong man and ninja I know you can be. It's in your blood._  
 _Of course, I couldn't leave you alone without help. Go 10 meters past the Hokage mountains and you'll see a lavender blossom tree, kind of sticks out like a sore thumb if you ask me, but I digress. Draw blood from your thumb and wipe it on the tree and you'll reveal the Namikaze mansion, not the biggest but you'll have a place to rest your head at night._  
 _In there is a library will all my scrolls on Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, they're all yours for the using._  
 _If you go into the main bedroom and into the back of my closet, you'll find a seal, channel your chakra into it and you'll be allowed access into my personal studies, in there you will find my scrolls on the Taijutsu style I never got to master, I'm entrusting it to you._  
 _Along with that you'll find your mother's sword and her scrolls on her sword style, 'The Red Death was her nickname, and she believes in you to keep the swordsmanship of the Uzumaki clan going. Also, my scrolls on the patented Hiraishin, and my scrolls on sealing. I would advise you to reach at least level 6 of seal mastering out of 10 before attempting to use it, find your godfather, Jiraiya of the Sannin, and I'm sure he'll help you.  
Also, in my study will be the bank account info for me and your mother, have Sarutobi help you set up a slow dribble account as to not raise suspicions (assuming he's the Hokage at the time)_  
 _My time is short now, son, so my last few words of advice are this: try to eat more than just ramen (if you're anything like your mother, I know you'll be crazed over it), master chakra control as a priority (and I'm not even joking, couple the bijuu chakra with the already enormous reserves of the Uzumaki clan and you're gonna have the worst control) and finally, watch out for Danzou._  
 _Unfortunately, this is the end for me, me and your mother love you very much, I'm sorry it had to be this way._  
 _With love, Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage"  
_

He stared at the letter for a good 30 minutes, reading it over and over again, yet realizing and now understanding that this was an official letter from the fourth himself. With that realization, he drops to his knees and leans back, no longer sad, no longer mad, just apathy filled his body right now as he wraps his head around the new revelations.

"Naru-" Kurama begins, only to be halted by a lone hand raised by the blonde prodigy.

"Kurama-chan, I apologize for automatically blaming you for the actions of the sick and twisted Madara Uchiha, I should have listened, and so I bow in apology." He bows low to her, not noticing her shocked face at such actions by the Uzumaki-Namikaze heir.

"I-its ok, Naruto-kun, I would do the same if I was in your shoes in this situation." she accepts the apology and the bow. "When we get to your mother and fathers house, I want you to sign the fox contract, but remember this, you are going to want to wait until you talk to old man Hiruzen before you try summoning, okay?"

"Yes, kyuu, I trust you now. Let's go check out the new pad, eh?" he says, as she does nothing but smile at him, releasing her hold from him and letting him back into his own world, back to his body. 'You'll make him proud yet, kit.'

* * *

'Ugh, I feel like a ton of brick just hit me over the head repeatedly.' Naruto thinks to himself as he rises and stretches out his muscles, yawning a bit.

 _'Well, kit, you did hit your head pretty hard on the concrete'_ Kurama says to Naruto through the now-present mental link, making him jump in the air in surprise.

'Nyeh! You can talk to me in my head now!?' he asks the fox woman, trying to slow his heart rate down from the new voice in his head. 'Oi, stop laughing at me!' he hears the fox snickering in his head at his displeasure.

 _'I'm sorry, kit, your reaction was just as funny as I thought it would be. Let's go before anyone catches you out here talking to yourself'_

'Good thinking, they already think that I am you, so its best not to draw anymore unwanted attention to myself.'

 _'Says the ninja that wears a bright orange jumpsuit that screams KILL ME I HAVE NO SENSE OF FASHION. Dude, seriously, its terrible.'_

'Oh yea well...uh...screw you, Kyuu-chan.'

 _'Is that an offer?'_

'No!'

 _'Damn.'_

He just shakes his head and leaps off, running as fast as he can to the spot the Yondaime instructed him to go to. Taking a moment to enjoy the wind flowing through his hair as he jumps from rooftop to rooftop, he silently thanks whoever so happened to knock him out. Speaking of which...

'Kurama-chan, do you know who knocked me out?'

 _'Uh, nyeh, it's complicated, I can explain it all in due time, bit it's best kept a secret for now. And Naruto?'_

'Yes?"

 _'Try not to mention Madara casually, especially around most older ninja and the Uchiha prick, ok?'_

'Yea no problem, kyuu!'

After about fifteen minutes of running he reaches the tree in question, and it sure did stick out like a sore thumb. A lavender blossom tree in the middle of strong, thick oaks and birches. 'Such a beautiful tree, nyeh kyuu?'

 _'Indeed, Naruto-kun. Do your thing, Mr. Uzumaki-Namikaze.'_

Nodding in agreement, he bites his thumb, drawing blood and smearing it onto the tree. What happens next awes and shocks both Naruto and Kurama.

The ground trembled, as a house rose from it along with a gate and fence. This house was big, but as big as one would think for the owner, the 4th Hokage.

Walking forward to the gate he sees a chakra seal and pumps some of his into it, watching the gate swing open, noting that it was probably there for security reasons. As he walked to the door he looked over the outside finding it simplicity somewhat extravagant.

Opening the front door and walking in the first thing he notices is the living room, with two couches and a loveseat among the end tables made from solid wood, walking along the hardwood flooring and deep crimson walls, he looks at the kitchen, while bigger than his, wasn't all that big, but he was sure was good enough for the meals he was sure his mother whipped up.

Moving onto the first hallway to the left it was lined with 10 doors, 5 on the right, 4 on the left, and one dead center at the end. Looking through the right and left he finds 8 guest rooms and a laundry room, and dead center was a small study.

On to the hallway to the left, he found three doors, one to the left, one to the right, and one again dead center. The two to either side of the hall were bigger guest rooms and the one dead center was what he was looking for, the master bedroom, sealed again with a chakra seal.

Pumping into the seal he's granted access to it, and finds it bigger than the others by a mile, a massive king sized bed, bathroom with a tub/shower combo and his or hers sinks. What he really found interesting was the study, accessed through a door in the back of the walk in closet guarded by, again, a chakra seal.

Bypassing it again he steps in, and that's where his eyes went wide. Shelf after shelf was lined with scrolls on his fathers Nin, Gen and Taijutsu scrolls along with other theory scrolls, history scrolls and medical scrolls. He found them sorted neatly by nature. What caught his eye was the box of tri-pronged kunai and the sword hanging above the desk.

Grabbing the sword, which was sheathed in a wooden sheath wrapped in a deep red cloth, he pulls the sword out, noticing that after the years of sitting, the silver blade of the katana was in pristine condition.

'Kit, the sword is made of the best Uzumaki steel, they never rust or lose the edge.' the Kyuubi informed him through their mind link.

Noting that, he admonishes the black circular handguard and stone hilt, wrapped in deep red cord for a good grip. Engraved on the blade at the base on one side was the Uzumaki swirl, and on the other the Namikaze crest.

"Okaa-san" Naruto mutters, emotions swelling as he holds the sword that his mother once carried into battle numerous times.

Stored in a dark stained cherry wood case was the scroll on his mothers sword style, the Bloody Habanero.

'Ok, that needs a better name. Like...The Fiery Kitsune, yea, that's good!.'

Exiting the study, he looks at his fathers closet, finding few things his size, but what he did find was a vest made of a weird material that seemed to be called denim, and all clothing items were engraved with a seal that would fix any slashes or gashes in it.

"I, need, sleep." Naruto mumbles out, before collapsing onto his mother and fathers bed, drifting off into his slumber, exhausted from the day's revelations.

* * *

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd cut! Hopefully this makes up for the horrid first version. Ja ne!


	2. Revelations

**A/N: I WILL BE RE-WRITING THIS CHAPTER AND CHAPTER TWO AND BE RE-RELEASING THEM ALONG WITH CHAPTER 5 SOON, THANK YOU FOR READING!  
**

* * *

Revelations are hard to deal with. Tricky, fickle things  
What can you do when life, at one moment, changes the script and flip reverses things.  
Deal as best as you can, but the dealer has the advantage.

* * *

"Last night was real then, I guess" Naruto wakes up, rubbing his eyes, not wanting to leave the comfort of his parents old bed.  
Realising that it must eventually come to an end, he gets out of bed and heads for the bath, turning the water on and hearing the old pipes creak out warm water.  
Eyeing the tome he submerges himself, grateful for getting up extra early so he can soak, mulling over his thoughts in his head.

 _"Well, I have to try and handle this as cooly as possible, starting to realize I vant lay all my cards on the table all at once.  
Still, I need to make changes in order to be the best ninja i can be. Train, nin, tai and kenjutsu, maybe Kyuu-chan can help my pitiful genjutsu skills."  
_ _ **  
"That i can do, kit, I'm privy to a few techniques"**_ The fox responds to His thoughts, yawning and stretching out in his mindscape

 _"If you don't mind, Kyuu, I'd appreciate it. I'll handle the Hokage when the time comes.  
I need to train though, and it's hard with my terrible bunshin and school schedule."_

 **"Did you ever think about shadow clones? They're better for your high chakra content."**

She relays the information on the jutsu to his head.

 _"Worth a shot, this is a S-class technique, I'm not sure how to explain this when i use it in the exam.  
Though the ability to retain memory is pretty awesome."_

 **"Again, cross that bridge when you get to it."**

"True, here goes nothin'"

He makes the signature handsigns, not thinking about the amount of chakra he's using he forms 100 shadow clones.  
 _"Well, shit, that's not what i imagined, but kinda perfect."_ He starts formalizing a schedule in his head.

"Okay, here it is, 50 of you do Tai outsid ein the woods, study my fathers scrolls, 20 go study the Ninjutsu library, i need one of you to grab me a piece of affinity paper, 20 do conditioning and the last 10 study my mothers Kenjutsu scrolls." He orders, each of them nodding and leaving, one returning with the paper he asked for.

 _"Perfect."_ He dries his hand, laying the piece in his hand and channeling chakra into it.  
To his surprise, it splits into 4 pieces, one piece burning, one piece crumpling up, one piece dissolving into dirt and the other turning wet.  
"Heh, ain't that some shit, ey Kyuu?"

 _ **"I always knew you were destined for greatness, but all 5? I'll be the Tanukis uncle."**_ She responds in his head.

Leaning back into the tub and going over the Kage Bunshin notes in his head he relays the information to his Ninjutsu training clons in his head.  
Finishing up his bath he dries off, heading towards the closet before remembering his dad's words.

"Chakra control. That's right." He takes 10 clones from the Taijutsu group to practice control

 _"Now, what to wear..."_ Gazing on the clothes in the closet, he contemplates his new outfit.  
He finally settles on a black, form fitting tee, with a weird vest made out of...denim?

 _"Hmm, thats a weird name"_ He thinks, shrugging it off and continuing.  
The denim vest has a blood red Uzu swirl on the back outlined in black.  
He throws on a pair of loose black sweatpants, tied to his ankles with white tiape, a pair of black ninja sandals and loads up on kunai and shuriken.  
Fixing a plain black ball cap to his head backwards, he makes 20 more clones for the purpose of weapons training.

"Welp, breakfast time. Fun." locking up the house he dashes off into the city and for his favorite ramen stand.  
The new diet would have to wait.

* * *

Arriving at Ichiraku's, he greets the old man and daughter warmly "Ohayo, Ayame-chan, Ichiraku-san"  
Smiling at them and waving he takes a seat, ordering his usual as Ayame eyes him

"Change of wardrobe, eh Naruto-kun?" She smiles at him, poking his denim vest and feeling the rough material.

"Yeahhhh, it was time eventually, I guess i just grew out of the jumpsuits." He puts a hand on the back of his head and smiles sheepishly.

"Well I have to say that i like the new look, Naruto." The old ramen chef looks over his shoulder and grins at his #1 customer.

"Yeah, it fits you, what's that material though? It must be new" Ayame asks, questioning the vest, wondering where he got it from.

"Huh? Oh it's called 'denim', It was cheap so I bought it." He answers, avoiding telling the the truth. Better leave that for another time.  
As much as it hurt him to lie, he had to do it, for his betterment.

"Itadakimasu!" He says, digging into the food that godsmust have invented. Or so he says.  
Finishing up his fiod quickly, he bids a farewell and pays for his food, dashing off to the academy.

* * *

Twas a beautiful day again.  
Naruto sat on the roof, 45 minutes early, enjoying the breeze flowing through his hair.  
Reaching into his bag he grabs a sketchpad and a pencil.

 _"I never really felt the want to draw. Guess now is a good time as any"  
_  
He put pencil to paper, letting his feelings flow freely from pencil to paper, watching it transform into a drawing.  
The sound of pencil strking paper soothes him, as he lets his throughs run free, not noticing the pair of eyes watching him from afar.

 _"Oh Naruto-kun..."_

The pale eyed, lavender shinobi watches him, admiring his skill for drawing. Newfound skill but still good nonetheless.  
The drawing becomes more clear to her, a couple hugging under a cherry blossom tree, embracing, a look of comfort and rest on their faces.

 _"Maybe that will be us one day, Naruto-kun, if only I wasn't so shy..."_

Finishing up the drawing, he notices the kunoichi to be looking at him, deciding to act on it.

"Neh, Hinata-chan, you can come closer if you want" He calls out, watching her almost fall out of her tree-perch.

"O-ok N-Naruto-kun" She jumps over to him, blushing at the chan he added to her name.  
"It's a b-beautiful drawing, Naruto-k-kun" She takes a closer look at it, awed at the simplicity of the strokes, yet also the intricacy.

"Meh, thanks Hinata-chan." He looks at her and smiles, enjoying her blush at the nickname.  
 _"Wow, I never noticed just how beautiful she is. Hmm."_

"Y-you're w-w-welcome." She smiles back at him, blushing even more at his gaze.

"Hinata-chan, can i ask you something?" He asks, devising a plan in his head to find put something.

"A-anything" She responds with a bit of nervousness in her voice  
 _"Oh no, what if he wants me to leave, what if he thinks I'm a creep, what if-"  
_ But her thoughts are cut short as he delivers his question to her.

"Do you wanna go out on a date sometime?"

And time stopped for her, her heart pounding hard against her chest, the day she never thought would come has arrived.  
Indeed it has arrived, in the form a smiling, blonde haired jinchuuriki.

"Y-y-yes!" She manages to stutter out, smiling wide now, a full blush filling her cheeks.

"Awesome, I was scared you'd say no" He admits, flashing his trademark sheepish grin.

"I-I wouldn't have said no, N-naruto- kun, I've liked you for a while now."  
She smiles as her heart jumps for joy in her chest, sending butterflies into her stomach  
"But, c-can I ask you something, Naruto-kun?"

"Anything, Hinata chan."

"Why did you ask me now? You've c-changed in a short manner of time, i can tell."  
She found a bit of courage in her gut to ask, managing to minimize the stuttering.

"Hinata, there has been some...revelations to me recently, ones i cannot easily explain, and I've realized i need to change my ways for the better.  
I'm done chasing women who are just gonna beat me down, and today i realized something, something i should've seen before."

"A-and what's that?" She asks, sucking in her breath as he moves his face in closer to hers.

"You're more beautiful than any kunoichi i know, Hinata-chan" He whispers out, planting a kiss on her forehead.

She then promptly faints, leaving Naruto to chuckle as he puts his sketch materials up, picking her up and carrying her inside, setting her in her chair.  
He takes a seat next to her as Iruka walks in, looking at Hinata but figures she fainted cuz Naruto is next to her.  
She starts stirring awake, catching her favorite blonde gazing at her sleeping form.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty" He smiles at her, leaning back in his chair as students arrive.

"G-gomen, N-naruto-kun" she looks down at the floor.

"Ehh its ok Hina-chan. It happens to the best of us."  
He wraps an arm around her shoulder, giving her a small hug.

"O-okay, N-n-naru-kun" She stutters out at the new name and the hug.

Unfortunately, all good moments have to end, as the academy shakes like an earthquake is hitting it, as two kunoichi burst through the door.

"HA! I WAS FIRST, INO-PIG!"  
"NO WAY, FOREHEAD, I WAS FIRST"  
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!?"  
"YOU HEARD ME!"  
"YOU TRYNA THROW HANDS?"  
"YOU AIN'T KNOW WHO YOU MESSING WIT, FOREHEAD.  
"SAY IT TO MY FACE, INO-PIG!"  
"OKAY, FOREHEAD!"  
"PIG!"  
 **"FOREHEAD!"  
"PIG!"**

"OH WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!"

Everyone turns to look at the person who yelled at the two, room so silent you could hear a pin drop.  
It was Naruto, as the women fix a heated gaze on him, watching him back himself as far as he can away from the enraged kunoichi.

"What did you say, Naruto?" Sakura asks, cracking her knuckles iwth a sadistic smile on her face.

"Yeah, what was that?" Ino joins in, matching her gaxe with Sakuras.

"N-now w-w-we can t-talk this over, r-right?" He gives them a grin, rubbing the back of his head

"Hmm, nah!" The women say in unison, throwing a punch each at his face. Only they never connected.  
They stare at the stopper of the attacks, who caught their fists in her hands, with a shocked look on their face.

"P-please refrain from hurting Naruto-kun, thank you."

"H-hinata?" Sakura asks, shocked look still plasered on her mantle.

"Yes?" She asks, returning to her seat

"N-nevermind then" Sakura says, smiling as she finds a seat in class, Ino in tow with her.

"Boy, that was badass!" Naruto tells Hinata, ruffling her hair as he takes a seat next to her again.

"T-thank you" She smiles at him as the rest of the class arrives, taking seats.

It was gonna be another boring class, they could tell.  
Preparation week for the exams is hell.

* * *

After a grueling, long, tiring day at academy, Iruka cut them loose as everyone stood up to put away their materials.  
Deciding she needed to say something, Sakura dropped a comment on Naruto's new attire.

"Say, baka, what's with the new clothes?" She asked, looking over his shoulder at Hinata "and the bodyguard too"

"Hmm? Oh, eh i outgrew my jumpsuits, realized that they're impractical. As for Hina-chan, well, we have a date soon, i don't think she wants me beat up"  
He explains simply, sensing she isn't satisfied but she'll have to deal with it.

"Oh, ok, sure" She flashes a fake smile and runs after Ino  
 _"Chyeh, the rumor mills shall turn"_

After the banshee was gone, he turns to Hinata and asks "So Hina-chan, how does tomorrow at 7 sound?"

"Sounds g-good, Naru-kun" She gives him a hug and smiles as he bids her farewell.

He barely made it a foot out of the door before an ANBU greeted him with a message "Lord Hokage wishes to see you" before poofing away

With a deep sigh, Naruto jumped off, heading toward the Hokages office.

* * *

Opening the door, The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Greets him with a smile, telling him to sit down.

"What's up, old man Hokage?" Naruto asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the office.

"Well Naruto, i was just wondering why you weren't in your apartment last night" The Hokage says, puffing on his pipe

 _"Well shit, that didn't last long"_ "Well, uhh, I stayed at a friends?"

The Kyuubi snorted **_"Smooth move, genius"_**

 _"Shut up"_

"You know I'm not gonna buy that story, Naruto-kun, what's the truth?"

*sigh*"Okay, get rid of your ANBU and I'll tell you." He concedes defeat, cursing that the secret didn't stay for long

After the ANBU dissapear with a wave of the Hokage's hand, he motions for Naruto to continue

"Well, old man, I was walking home last night right, and i saw this woman crying in an alleyway, being the nice guy i am i went to check on her.  
Well when she looked at me, for some Kami-known reason i was thrusted into my mindscape. There i met the Kyuubi."  
He sees Hiruzen about to say something, but motions for him to stop.

"It's ok, we'll get to that, anyways, me and Kyuu talked for a bit, and she gave me this scroll."  
He tosses the scroll to the Hokage as he continues his story, watching the Hokage's eye's widen with every line read.

"I know, shocker right?" a questioned laced with venomous sarcasm "So i went to the house and stayed there, after of course exploring it.  
I found all my dad's notes, his library, scrolls on his unfinished Taijutsu style, Hiraishin, Rasengan, and my mom's sword.  
Before you ask, no I'm not attempting to learn any of that besides the Ken and Taijutsu, with my Shadow Clones help right now."

The elder Hokage was at a loss for words "Naruto. I'm sorry i never told you, you have to understand that it was a tough time, and with Iwa still bitter at your father,who knows what they would've done."

"It's ok, I understand, about everything. Everything last night opened my eyes, made me realoze how i need to change who i am.  
I have not only my mom and dads legacy to carry on, but my own, and i need to be serious about my training and attitude from now on." He smiles at the old man, giving him a thumbs up

"I have no dount you will do as such. Now, the money, i'll handle the bank as an apology to you, they can be fickle fiends" Hiruzen stands up and grabbing a form.

"Now, as for people knowing about the Kyuubi and your lineage, only you and i can legally tell people until you say its ok for me to tell everyone"

"How about when i make Chuunin, eventually, that way i can at least be able to semi-defend myself" Naruto offers, getting look of approval from the third.

"I agree, it's settled then. I will go deal with the bank right now, have a good day, Naruto-kun" He bows to th blinde ninja now standing before him

"Arigatou" Naruto bows back, walking out of the office, ignoring the screaming banshee that is his secretary, he decides to walk around town.

Rounding the corner towards his favorite ramen stand, he bumps into someone. Standing up and brushing himself he looks at who he bumped into.

"Yo, sorry Kiba" He says, smiling at him and offering him a hand up

"Nah it's no problem, hey i heard you have a date with Hinata eh?" The dog-ninja pokes him in the ribs with an elbow

"Yeah i got tired of chasing after that bubblegum-banshee." He laughs, watching Kiba burst into laughter at the new nickname for the "leader of the Sasuke Uchiha fan club"

"I feel ya man, i hope to Kami i dont land on a team with her." He shudders "We have extra sensitive hearing, and that girl blows my drums almost everyday"

"Ouch, hey wanna go get some ramen neh?" He asks the briwn haired boy and dog

"Yeah man, I'm starving!" He responds, the little dog yipping in agreement, following him to the ramen stand.

* * *

After bidding goodbye he heads back to the mansion and dispells the clones, dropping to the floor with a massive headache  
"Ow, sonova bitch!" He cries out, grasping his head as the Fox snickers at him

 ** _"Hehe, whoops, forgot to tell you about that kit"_**

 _"Thanks, fox. But i like what my clones have found, they helped my chakra control massively, i learned a jutsu or two from each affinity, they started on the sword style, which the name is probably best unsaid-"_

 **"The Bloody Habanero?"**

"Yea, from what i see i'm thinking more along the lines of Firey Kitsune, sounds way better. Anyhow, I've got my dad's Taijutsu style down, granted its basic at its core, so i'll try to expand on that since i don't have school tomorrow. And Fuuiinjutsu, I'll save the Rasengan since i need better control for that."

 **"It's good to see you have a plan kit-oh what the hell"**

He passed out on the bed again, presumably from all the information  
 _ **"Sleep well kit, the road for you just got longer."**_

* * *

 **So as for Naruto being a bit smarter, I forgot i really don't have any context before the first chapter, He wasn't as dumb, but he still wasn't all there.  
As for anyone who might think I'm leveling him up too fast, he only learned a basic taijutsu style and 7-8 D TO Low C ranked ninjutsu, and he still can't use his moms sword in battle, that may come around the Wave arc. I'll try to space his advancement out more when the story kicks in, his date, the exam, the teams, missions, his relationship with hinata growing slowly, ****  
****this chapter was just him being bold.**

 **A/N: I WILL BE RE-WRITING THIS CHAPTER AND CHAPTER ONE AND RE-RELEASING THEM ALONG WITH CHAPTER 5 SOON. THANK YOU FOR READING!  
**

Other than that, read, enjoy and review please!


	3. Offers

"The fall of man will not be as graceful as some may wish"  
-Unknown

* * *

A week may not seem like a long time to some, it may be bittersweet, passing days or joyful, exuberant days.  
Though for some, it can be a long haul, the birth of a revolution in someone's soul, the start of the fire that burned the house that doubt built to the ground.  
Who needed it anyways?

"Gah!" The blonde ninja yells, falling into the hot water for the hundredth time as a certain lavender kunoichi watches, giggling softly from her stance on the water. She was growing more and more beautiful to the blonde ninjas eye, all the while goring a space in his heart.

"Y-you'll get it eventually, N-Naruto-kun" She reassures him, boy had he worked on her stutter. Oh what her father would say of their relationship...

"Ie, I've almost got it, Hina-chan!" He excitedly starts walking on the water, his balance finding him suddenly "See! See Hina-oh shit!"

He fell again, much to Hinata's pleasure as she couldn't control her laughter now, grabbing her sides. Their date had really opened her eyes, his words striking her heart, spoke so smoothly in her ear.

 _***FLASHBACK***  
_

* * *

 _"Boy, tonight sure is a pretty night, eh Hina?" Naruto asks his date, putting an arm around her shoulder.  
It was indeed a lovely night, a cool night, the stars shining bright in the sky, the smell of lavender and cinnamon filling his nose._

 _"Y-y-es, it is, N-naru-kun" She looks down at the ground, blushing at the contact the two were sharing. Once upon a time she would've fainted at his touch, thanking herself for growing strong enough to at least handle that much contact._

 _"Hinata, why do you stutter?"_

 _The question had blindsided her. Such an out-of-left-field question should've been expected from the ninja, but not specifically THAT question.  
"O-oh, I-it's j-just another o-one of my weaknesses" she gets a sad look on her face, replacing the blush. The memories of the past flooding her now, coursing over her mindset as sadness grows over her heart, and tears start to form in her eyes._

 _"What do you mean, weakness? Who said you were weak?" he asks, hugging her closer. He was confused now, who would think such a beautiful, tender woman was weak?_

 _She looks down even more, tears forming in her eyes "E-e-everyone..." she whispers as a single tear drops to the ground._

 _"Well that's a bunch of bullshit" Naruto tells her, wiping a tear from her face._

 _"W-wha?" Hinata looks at him incredulously._

 _"Look, everyone thinks that their flaws make them imperfect, but that's bullshit. I think you're perfect at 3 am when you're crying in my arms after fighting with your dad, or at 3 pm on a sunny day when you think your look bad. No matter what anyone tells you, you're perfect Hina-chan, never let that drag you down." He looks at her and flashes a smile, brushing her hair out of her face._

 _"R-really, Naru-kun?" She asks him, stopping her tears from flowing anymore, the moment sweeping over her body in tremendous fashion, as she fights to keep her consciousness and the moment alive._

 _"Believe it! And besides..." he trails off, leaning in closer to her face "I think your stutter is cute" he smiles, knowing exactly what he was doing._

 _"Y-y-you d-do?" a full blush on her face accompanies the question, her stutter, cute? No way, Jose._

 _"Indeed, not as cute as this though" he leans in and plants a soft kiss on her lips. Her eyes went wide for a moment in shock before she closes them, embracing the kiss, letting the moment encompass her body, the electricity of the kiss energizing her as she returns the force, going in deeper._

 _As they break apart, both of them gasp and smile, as Naruto hugs her again "Well I guess it's official then, Hina-hime"_

 _"W-what's that, Naruto-k-kun?"_

 _"You're now my girlfriend." He smiles at her, watching her face go completely red. Aaaaand then she fainted. 'Fuck me. Oh well, I guess I'll carry her home.'_

* * *

 _***FLASHBACK END***_

Boy was her dad not really thrilled to see her daughter being carried home passed out by a boy

 _***FLASHBACK***  
_

* * *

 _'This is gonna be fun to explain to Hiashi-sama.' the blonde jinchuuriki thinks to himself as he knocks on the compound door.  
Hiashi is a...calm man. Almost _too _calm. Such a figure is hard to read and therefore hard to deduce whether or not he's ready to kill you for bringing his daughter home passed out, or laugh at the simplicity of the situation_

 _A clansmen opened the door "Who is it-oh lord. You're a dead man"_

 _"Ko, is it? I can explain, just let me lay her down and talk to Hiashi-san please" he begs, hoping not to be murdered tonight 'Log, help get through tonight with all my ligaments and what's left of my sanity intact, amen"_

 _"*sigh* Ok, good luck, Naruto-san. You know where her room is, Hiashi-sama's is down that hall at the end, only one with double doors" he tells the blonde, soon-to-be-dead-or-severely-injured boy, pointing in a general direction._

 _"Arigatou, Ko-san, have a good night" he says as he bows as much as he can with the sleeping girl in his arms. As he's taking her to her room he admires the intricacy put into the design of the compound. The flowing hallways, yet there was always something...weird...about this compound._

 _'Boy they took their time putting this together, ah, here we are' Naruto opens the door as quietly as possible, putting the sleeping kunoichi down on her bed softly, and covering her with her soft, purple and black blanket 'Sweet dreams, Hina-hime' he kisses her forehead softly, smiling at her sleeping form._

 _"Ahem"_

 _His entire body froze, realizing who that voice belonged to "H-Hiashi san, what a pleasant surprise" the blonde ninja stutters out, turning around and sheepishly smiling at the father of his girlfriend. 'Well, I'm fucked. it's been a good ride Hinata-chan, log receive me!'_

 _"My office. Now" He commands the boy, watching him scurry off, smiling to himself as he smiles at his daughter, before shutting her door and joining her boyfriend in his study._

 _"Look, I can explain, Hiashi-san" he starts to defend himself, Hiashi's gaze unwavering, staring holes into his body 'I hope he can't literally drill holes with his eyes...' he grimaces at the thought as the elder Hyuuga prepares to speak._

 _"I sure hope so boy, I'd hate to have to explain your injuries to the Hokage"_

 _Naruto nods affirmingly, launching into the story of their date, their dinner at Ichirakus, the cinnamon buns they picked up from her favorite dessert shop, as they sat and ate on top of Hokage mountain. He then started on the conversation they had, slightly glaring at Hiashi, "And then she fainted" He finishes the story after the kiss._

 _"Wow, she made it past the kiss. I'll give you credit, Naruto-san. Any other time she'd faint from you just hugging her." Hiashi says, impressed with his daughters progress.  
'Naruto Uzumaki, I always knew there was something about you that just made people stronger...and stupider. Fair trade off?'  
_

 _"Thank you, however we need to talk about that whole weak thing. it needs to stop" Naruto says firmly, staring at Hiashi in his eyes. A deadlock battle between the two forms, blue clashing against white as they battle for dominance in the simple game of staring._

 _"Oh really? And who are you to tell me what do?" He asks Naruto teasingly. 'Play your cards right, Uzumaki, and you might just best me'_

 _"I'm her boyfriend, and as much as I like comforting her and being there for her, you need to stop lying to her" Naruto stands his ground, fake-shocking Hiashi. He smiles a bit, as Hiashi shows a bit of faux-submission 'Well played...'_

 _"What if it's not a lie? She can't even beat her own sister-"_

 _Naruto cuts him off "Because she's too kind to beat up her little sister, all for naught. I'll make you a deal, ok Hiashi-sama?" he asks, coming up with his plan quickly 'Log let this work please'_

 _"I'm intrigued, continue" He says, leaning back into his chair. He was fairly impressed with the Uzumaki kids confidence and aura, something him and his father in common, His mother on the other hand..._

 _"Graduation is in 2 weeks, Hiashi-san, if you agree to let me train her for these next two weeks and she grows stronger and more confident, I only wish that you make us having a relationship easier on her. Oh, and stop being a dick. If I fail, you will have my humblest apologies, and I will never step foot towards Hinata-chan ever again."_

 _Hiashi thinks this over for a minute before sticking out a hand to Naruto and standing up "despite your vulgar language, I believe we have a deal, Naruto-san"_

 _Naruto takes his hand and shakes it firmly before bowing goodbye to the Hyuuga clan head, and turning to leave, stopping at the door frame "And Hiashi-sama, don't be upset when you lose." and with that, Naruto took his leave_

 _'Honestly, Naruto-san, I hope I do lose.' he thinks to himself, smiling as he heads to bed. That kid was something else...  
_

* * *

 _***FLASHBACK END***  
_  
And the training was going good. He had helped Hinata find out she was a Wind and Fire type, oddly enough and at a surprise to both of them.  
With his vast library of Jutsu scrolls and control techniques they were both working on refining it to a tee, unfortunately for Naruto, he kept getting the burnt end of the deal.

 _Literally._

"You keep laughing like that and I'll have to come over there and kiss you" He tells the laughing girl, in a mock threatening tone, loving the smile on his hime's lips.

"Psh, if you could even get over here, Naruto- _chan_ " She fires back teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him in a attempt to goad him over to her. She sure did like his kisses.  
'Heh, come and get some Naruto-kun'

"Grrr, that's it!" He growls out, dashing over to her, shockingly staying in control as he picks her up, chuckling at the small 'eep' that escaped her lips as he crashes his down on hers, encasing her in his touch.

'Chyeh, I should have this bet in the bags' "Lets eat, Hina-hime, Ichirakus?" He asks, hoping she would say yes as he gazes at her, his eyes practically pleading for a confirmation from his girlfriend.

"Hehe, sure Naru-kun" She giggle out, taking his hand as they take off towards their favorite ramen stand. Such a beautiful day for ramen.

It sure had been a good week for Hinata, she didn't know why but Naruto always brought around a spirit of confidence with him wherever he went, and she kinda liked it.  
Her mind shifts over to the graduation test, the day that she dreaded the most. She knew she could do regular clones, Mizu Bunshin and the transformation, the Kawarime was a breeze for her but still, even with him around, she still felt unsure of her abilities.

"Neh, Hinata, are you ready for graduation?" Naruto asks her, breaking her out of her stupor with a golden smile, sensing her trepidation and trembling.

"Huh? O-oh, s-sure, Naruto-kun" She squeaks out, cursing herself for letting him catch the stutter. He didn't like the fact that she was stuttering because she thought she was weak, a point he's been driving to disprove all week.

"Alright, spill, what's with the stutter?" He asks with a serious face now, looking her dead in the eye. She hardly ever stuttered anymore, lest she was sad, nervous, or unsure. Cute as it was, it needed to stop.

"I'm just not confident in my skills enough, I know I need to work on that but I've tried. It just never seems to go away" She explains with a look of sadness on her face.  
'After all the work he's done and I still don't believe in myself. What a waste...'

"You know better than that, come on, let's get some ramen and talk about this before you go home." And that they did.

Just two people in an ever growing relationship, hearts growing fonder and closer.  
If only love was that _simple..._

* * *

Here we find our favorite blonde hero, sitting on top of Hokage mountain, thinking to himself.

'These changes, are they good or bad? I feel so much more free, less blind, but...it's different.' pen strokes paper as the wind flutters around him 'I just don't know what to think. And that person that knocked me out, that was strange indeed. I feel smarter too, wiser beyond my years. What to do...' a figure starting to shape itself out of the lines 'Life. What does it even mean? What is our purpose here? to kill or be killed?' and the figure starts to come to life, complete now.

'What the hell?' he asks, dropping his sketchbook, the wind going crazy as the page shines a bright light. He quickly covers his eyes and gasps in shock, a figure arising from what was once his sketch book.

"Boy! You dare summon me from the depths of my chambers?" The figure shouts at him, standing a foot taller than Naruto, a black outfit with a hood covering his face. He was an dominant figure, standing with confidence and grace.

"Oi! I didn't mean to! I was just drawing whatever came to my mind" He shouts back at the figure, taking a step closer. 'Log, what the hell do I keep getting myself into?'

"Dou you know who I am? How dare you speak to me like that!" the figure steps closer, starting to remove its hood, Naruto catching a glimpse of its eyes, those same eye's that haunted him that night, forcing these changed on him.

"Y-you! Its you, you bastard, you're the one who knocked me out!" He yells, taking a step back now, stumbling over a tree root and hitting ass on dirt.

"Hehehe, yesssss, and I've come to...finish the job!" He finishes with a shout, letting those eye's curse the blonde ninja once again as he fades into the abyss of oblivion.

"Buh...why...me..." Naruto mumbles out, as he sinks to the ground.

"Cuz, boy, it's my job. Boy, they're really gonna bitch at me for over doing it and scaring the kid...meh, oh well" he finishes in a cheery tone, slinging the sleeping boy over his shoulders and poofing away into the night as ANBU swarm the area, seeing only the sketchbook.

'Lord Hokage ain't gonna be happy about this...'

 _ **'kit, this isn't gonna be fun, but you need and deserve it...'**_

* * *

 _Drip...drop...drip...drop..._

His eyes slowly flutter open, to be met by a dark room, a pipe suspiciously dripping, a stale smell in the air. Cuffs tightly bound around hid wrists, Naruto stirs awake from his mysterious slumber.

'Where in the actual fuck am I?' he asks himself, his eyes wandering but seeing nothing to tip him off as to what his location is. He tries shaking loose from his bindings, only to be met by failure. He tries conjuring his chakra, only for that to fail too.

'Fuck' he curses to himself, only for the door to his cell/room to open, and walking in came the man who was the cause of his imprisonment "Hey, you bastard, lemme go!" he yells, anger and rage coursing through him.

"Okay, I admit, this went too far. Naruto, it's time you find out some shit, 'ight?" the man asks, removing his cloak and allowing Naruto to take a good look at his jailer.  
Long, flowing black hair, a stone cold face with those eyes, those cursed, broken eyes that have caused him so much trouble. His body was stone solid, ripped and toned to the highest level. He was wearing black pants tucked into his sandals and a deep red shirt under a black ninja jacket, with a white bandana tied around his forehead.

"Grr, I guess" he growls out, not fully trusting the man but figuring he might as well hear what he has to say "what's your name anyways, ninja-san?"

"My name is Heryooku of the Purotekutaai." he says, snapping his fingers and laughing as the blonde ninja strings curses together, his chains magically disappearing, dropping him to the ground roughly.

"Gah, fuck you ninja-san!"

"It's Heryooku," he sighs out "look, can you not interrupt? It's a long story and it'll be less confusing if you keep quiet til the end" Heryooku explains, hoping for a calm, peaceful talk 'not likely though'.

"I guess" Naruto shrugs, sitting down and crossing his legs, Indian style.

"Well, here we go," Heryooku takes a deep breath to begin his story "I am a hanyou, one of the protector kind, for the longest time I was a warrior spirit, sealed inside the souls of blades I deemed worthy. The last blade I was sealed in was your mother's blade. I was there the night the Kyuubi attacked, albeit against her will, and I was there when you were born, your soul reached out to my spirit, and the instant they met, I knew what my destined future was. So I joined you. Unfortunately I couldn't interfere or appear to you until recently, or I would've stepped in a lot sooner, son. If you choose to accept my presence, there are quite a few things you'll need to know. You'll get my advanced knowledge of nin, gen and Taijutsu, as well as my knowledge of you mothers style of Kenjutsu. You will also gain my heightened sensory skills. The biggest thing is you will gain the Purotekutaai, the protectors eye, the highest esteemed bloodline in all of the worlds. In my years of travel and wandering I've gained knowledge on every single eye there is, and combined them all together to form the ultimate one, to be used by only the fiercest and most noble warriors, such as yourself. It has all the abilities of the Sharingan, Byakugan and Rinnegan, in one eye. Shall you join me, oh noble Uzumaki?" Heryooku finishes, bowing on one knee to the young jinchuuriki, a look of wonder on his face.

"Ok, what the fuck. And secondly, what the actual fuck!" He yells at the bowing hanyou, who rises with a grin on his face.

"I knew you'd say that at first, any real questions, Naruto-san?" he asks him, standing up now and offering Naruto a hand.

"I...I guess. I've just never had someone want to actually help me before, let alone a divine spirit such as yourself. Boy, this is gonna take a LOT of training" he takes his hand, pulls himself up and shakes it, a show of confidence.

"Yes, it will, but right now, we are in my mindscape. We can train for 3 months in here and it would've only been 3 days in your world. Shall we get started?" Heryooku asks Naruto, opening the door to reveal a beautiful, vibrant field excellent for training him and his beast.

"Yes!" he yells, running outside and unleashing his tired muscles.

"Okay, your first test" he orders Naruto to stop in front of him "is fighting me" Heryooku puts on a faint, innocent grin, releasing his power and flooding the air with his presence.

"*gulp* fuck me softly, daddy?" Naruto asks, a look of fear and certain doom spread on his face, realizing how absolutely screwed he was.

"Hmm, nah" Heryooku disappears forwards, slamming a fist into Naruto's stomach, launching him backwards.

"Ahhhhhhffuuuuuuuckkkmeeeeeeee" is all you could hear come from the nine tails jinchuuriki, before a THUD and a subsequent "damn it that hurt like a sonn'a bitch!"

"Hehe, this is gonna be fun" he disappears again, as the session carries on. Naruto had no idea what was in store for him.

* * *

"SIR HOKAGE! SIR HOKAGE!" an ANBU captain yells, barging into poor Hiruzen's office "NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS GONE MISSING!"

"GAH DAMMIT YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THIS? I SEE EVERYTHING YOU TWAT!" the presiding Hokage yells back at the ANBU captain.

"Sorry, my apologies, Lord Hokage. May I ask what exactly happened? All I saw was a bright light, him get sucked into his notebook and, well, that's it" the confused ninja asks the wise leader.

"Let's just put it this way, an old friend has come to visit, sit down and I'll explain, Duck-san" he gestures to a chair, as he stuffs his pipe with tobacco and sparks it, taking a long drag and exhaling.

"Sir, yes sir." the duck masked Anbu complies.

"You see, this is a story all about how my life got twist-turned upside down..."

* * *

4 HOURS LATER

* * *

"...and that's the last time I ever smoked weed with Willie, and I'll never smoke weed with willie again" the Hokage finishes, singing the last part in a weird accent.

"Uhh, Lord Hokage?" the Anbu asks him, a little concerned about just what he heard.

"Huh? Oh, shit I told the wrong story again. Hehe, woops." Hiruzen laughs, smiling a bit as the Anbu captain just puts his head in his hands and shakes it, praying to the holy Log for grace and mercy.

"Now, how about the thing with Naruto-san, Hokage-sama?"

"Ahh, yes, what do you know about hanyou's?" the Hokage asks, as he can see the captains eyes go wide behind the mask.

* * *

MEANWHILE, IN SAID HANYOU'S MIDSCAPE

* * *

"I'm only going to ask you one time, Naruto-san" Heryooku starts off calmly, standing over Naruto, who was strapped to a table. He puts a cloth over his face and dumps a bucket of water on him and screams "WHERE IS BIN LADEN!?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU CRAZY ASS MOTHER-" he was cut off by the mindscape warping, now he was bent over a table and tied down, his rear end bared.

"Ain't no ass whippin' like Joe Jackson" the hanyou says, grabbing a braided belt from out of nowhere seemingly.

"Who the fuck is Joe-OWWWWWWW!"

We'll get back to them later...

* * *

BACK WITH THE HOKAGE

* * *

"...and that's how fucked Naruto is, any questions?"

"Honestly, Hokage-sama, I'd rather not try to find anything else out, my head already hurts from two stories." the duck Anbu says, reaching for a headache pill.

"Well, there's just one thing left to do, Mr. Anbu" the Hokage states opening a hidden drawer in his desk.

"What's that, sir?" the captain asks, bad mistake that was.

"Wanna get high?" Hiruzen pulls out a pipe and bag, grinning wildly.

"Well, fuck me..." was all he had to say that night.

That night will forever go down in history as the day the candy store ran out of candy. The look on the owners face was priceless.

The elder's...not so much...

* * *

NEXT TIME: DEALING WITH THE HAGS, AND NARUTO'S NEW STRENGTH.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guy's decided not to take this story too seriously as I have two more fics in progress that'll tackle that easily. Not to worry this'll stay a serious story, but it will have it's moments of comedy and non-canon fourth wall breaking, but nothing too bad.**

 **Anyhow, read and review please, thanks!**


	4. Winners

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder;  
The suspense is the hard part to endure."

* * *

She was pacing back and forth, feet pattering against the tile floor in the hospital, anxiously awaiting news on her beloved.  
What had happened? Even the doctors had no idea what had happened to the guy, just sitting high upon the Hokage mountain, drawing and then he passed out, his sketchbook turned to a blank page.

It had certainly been the weirdest thing to happen in the village in the last few months, and even the best Genjutsu specialists had no idea what happened.  
Three long day's she had waited for any sign of life from her boyfriend, the man who had breathed a new life into her, gave her a new confidence in herself that no one knew she had, not even herself. He couldn't go now, he just couldn't, and then she heard that petrifying sound.

 _beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep._

It had broken through to everyone, doctors scrambling to save the patient, tears falling from her eyes, praying to any god that would listen to save him. He couldn't die.  
Not today, not tomorrow, not when everything was finally going right in her life. Thankfully for her, that sound was only a temporary thing, replaced by a breath of fresh air.

 _beep. beep beep. beep beep. beep beep. beep beep. beep beep._

"Phew, that was a close one, Ms. Hyuuga, he'll be waking shortly if you would like to go join him" the doctor tells the disheveled and previously hysterical Hyuuga heir.

'Damn right I will' "Thank you, doctor, I shall join him now" she says, walking into the room and taking a seat next to his bed. Her father wasn't happy about her being here 24/7, even skipping class to be by the side of Naruto, but she didn't really care. Her appearance and performance wasn't going to suffer, so neither should he.

'What happened, Naruto-kun' she thinks to herself, taking his hand in hers, running her fingers through his hair, all mussed up from whatever happened to him.  
That's when he started stirring awake.

"Ugh. Remind me not to pick a fight with a hanyou ever gain." He groans out under his breath, before getting walloped into a hug by his lavender haired girlfriend.

"Naruto-kun, you're awake!" she shouts out, engulfing him in a massive hug, squeezing him and almost crushing his bones to dust.

"Oof, Hina-hime, careful, I'm still a bit sore" he moans, before the shy girl quickly unlatches from him.

"Oh, s-sorry, Naru-kun" she says, barely stuttering this time 'and thank log for that' she reminds herself.

"No, I'm sorry, Hina-chan, I know you missed me" he says, reaching out and grabbing her chin softly, pulling her in for a soft and tender kiss, breaking it after a few seconds.

"It's ok, Naruto-kun" she breaths out, before taking a seat on his bed and leaning back, snuggling into him. "What happened anyways?"

"Shh, not here, I'm sure Hokage-sama will want a meeting with me, and I'll bring you along, even though I'm sure he knows everything by now." He whispers in her ear, kissing the top of her head and enjoying her presence.

 _ **"Dawwwweee, aren't you two so kawaii"**_ Kurama speaks, for the first time in the last 3 days.

 _'Oi, where the hell you been, Kyuu-chan? I missed your wise, sometimes smart ass presence in my head"_

 ** _"Just...observing. This is gonna be fun to explain to everyone, especially that Sasuke Uchiha prick. You know he's gonna be furious, right?"_**

 _"yea, like you said, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, for now, I'm enjoying my relaxation."_

"Mr. Uzumaki, Lord Hokage requests your presence after your check up."

 _"*sigh* and just like that, it's over."_

 ** _"Hehe, don't feel bad kit, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time afterwards"_**

"And Ms. Hyuuga, your father wants you to have a meeting with him, after you and Mr. Uzumaki's meeting with Lord Hokage"

 _ **"Whoops, spoke too soon"**_

'You little prick' "How did he know I was gonna have her come with me?" Naruto asks the nurse, curious about Hiashi's statement.

"He said 'A father knows', Mr. Uzumaki." the nurse replies, before she headed back out the door, awaiting Naruto to get dressed.

'What a smart ass' "Well, at least you get to go the meeting, eh Hina-chan?" the blonde shinobi tells his girlfriend, giving her a trademark smile and peck on the lips.

"Hehe, that's true, I'll leave so you can get dressed Naruto-kun" she giggles out, leaving the room.

* * *

The tension in the air could've been cut with a knife, the stare off between the young ninja and the, er, aging Hokage. Thankfully, someone broke the silence.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto-kun, what's going on?" Hinata asks, kind of afraid of the tense situation, not knowing what to do let alone what this was about.

"I'm waiting for the brat to activate it, I haven't seen that pair of eyes with my own since the first shinobi world war" Hiruzen states strongly and boldly, his gaze not diverted a single time from the ninja across from him.

"Er, activate what Hokage-sama?" she asks him, confused as to what the wise and old ninja was referring to.

"The Purotekutaai, Naruto, come on, you have to let me see." the Hokage tells Naruto, who just shakes his head at the leader of the leaf village.

"Nah, Heryooku sensei says not to activate them just yet. I may be good as using the basics, he just doesn't wanna risk anything." Naruto says and closes his eyes, focusing his breathing.

"Naruto-kun, who is this Heryooku guy you're talking about?" Hinata asks, looking at him and rubbing his shoulder tenderly.

"*sigh* Hinata-chan, while I was out for those three days, I was stuck inside the mindscape of a hanyou, one who once inhabited my mother, Kushina Uzumaki's blade. He now inhabits me, and has lent me his wisdom and ability to use his specially designed bloodline, the Purotekutaai, protectors eye. It can do everything the Byakugan, Sharingan and Rinnegan can do, but in one eye. He's refined it to it's finest point, to where it taxes the user a very, very small amount, smaller than any other jutsu. He trained me for three months in his mindscape, which was three days out here, and in those three months I've trained my abilities to the point to where without my blade I can be considered a low Jounin level, and with it, well, no one knows." he explains calmly to her, as he starts focusing chakra to his eyes.

"...activate them, Naruto-kun, for me" she speaks sweetly into his ear, using her charm to woo him into it.

"I guess Hina-chan" he gives her a small smile, before opening his eyes, revealing a deep blue, slightly enlarged iris, with a black X going through it, his pupil in the center of the X "What do you guys think?"

"My word, they still look the same after all these years..." the Hokage trails off, still looking into them.

"No words...no words..." is all Hinata could say, a tear forming in her eye.

"I know, they're pretty cool" Naruto grins at them, as they break free from their stupor, and the Hokage prepares to speak.

"I remember back when they were warrior eyes, oh the destruction they brought, now that Heryooku has refined them, I see great potential in them, especially with you, young Naruto" Hiruzen gives him a warm smile, pulling out pen and paper and starting to write down some stuff.

"Can-can they see like the Byakugan, Naru-kun?" Hinata asks him, her curiosity peaked.

"The have the vison abilities of the Byakugan, the Genjutsu and jutsu copying techniques of the Sharingan, as well as Ameterasu and Su'sanoo, the gravity bending abilities of the Rinnegan, as well as all the future stuff I can get into. Now, it's too dangerous, but Heryooku-sensei, plus my clones, and I got a lot of training in, even when I was sleeping my clones were training with a clone of Heryooku-sensei, it was relentless but worth it. With more training I'll have the power to protect all of those close around me, especially you, my Hime." he smiles at her as she gives him a kiss on the lips, to the chagrin of the old Hokage.

"So Naruto, you know we have to deal with the council right? They want us to meet in ten minutes" he says as he interrupts the two lovers kiss.

"Yea, don't remind me, I'm gonna have fun beating them back, maybe if I put them in my pocket dimension..." he trails off with a hand on his chin in thinking position.

"No, no you cant Naruto, it'll just cause you and me more trouble" Hiruzen rubs his forehead at the thought of more paperwork 'dear log, no'

"Fine, I'll play nice. Hina, your father is probably getting impatient and we've already missed school today, so how does some cinnamon buns and ramen sound at 7?" he asls, what would essentially be their second date.

"That sounds lovely, Naru, I'll see you then" she gives him a peck on the cheek as she walks out of the rom to head home, ready to face her father.

"I'll pick you up!" he hollers after her, before standing up to face the Hokage "Shall we deal with these old geezers now?"

"Lets, Naruto, I'm ready to be done and get high-I mean do paperwork, yes, that's exactly what I meant hehe" Hiruzen says as he nervously giggles it away.

"Oh you're not hiding anything, JiJi, I know all about you, that one captain from the Mist's Anbu and the buffet you're never allowed to go back to." He says as he starts laughing at the Hokage's face, one of pure shock and remembrance.

"You-you-you-"

"Now now, I won't say anything, let's just handle the council first old man" he laughs as he skips off, leaving the old man in the office, still in shock.

'That-that little brat!'

* * *

"Alright, alright, alright, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

And with that statement, the room full of councilmen and councilwomen was silent, the Hokage's anger boiling up to this.

"We are NOT killing him, nor are we executing, exiling or giving his power to Sasuke Uchiha, how do you guys think it works anyways?" Hiruzen asks, all eyes on him as he rubs his temples in annoyance.

This council had gotten out of control, thanks to the 4th and Danzou, albeit the 4th just had the best interest in mind. No, now they think they run the whole damn village, and the civilian ones don't grasp the concept of bloodlines, you can't just TEACH someone a family technique that only works for your clan.

And then it all started again, the screaming, the shouting.

"He's dangerous!"  
"He doesn't deserve the power like Sasuke does!'  
"We need to give it to Sasuke so he can rebuild the Uchiha clan and make this village great again!"  
"We need to build a wall, and make the Stone village pay for it, and I'll put frikkin lasers on it"  
"The Kyuubi is trying to take over and destroy this village!"  
"Yeah! Look at him in the corner, his eyes closed, I bet he's drawing the power to kill us all!"  
"RUN!"

"SHUT THE SHIT UP MATE, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Naruto comes out and yells, before slowly sinking into the chair again and resuming his nap, angering the council even more.

"Oi, Naruto, can you at least stay awake til the end?" the weary Hokage asks him.

"*yawn* I guess. Look, let's get one thing straight, I was gifted these powers by a hanyou who goes by the name Heryooku, ring a bell anyone?" he says, smiling at the looks on the faces of anyone who had served or had family that served in the Third Shinobi World War.

"A-are you sure?" A ninja clad in bandages named Danzou asks, trembling a bit and dropping his cane 'this brat! he's too dangerous, he needs to be taken care of, fast!'

"He's lying! That hanyou was last with Kushina...Uzumaki...who died while giving birth to...and the fourth Hokage...Naruto Uzumaki...blonde hair...blue eyes...sorry?" A random ninja member of the council says, the 'oh shit' look on his face confirming everyone's suspicions about said blondes heritage.

"Well shit, it only took ya 12 fuckin' years, ya idiots!" he says, leaning against the desk that Hiruzen sat at, a piece of pocky sitting in his mouth.

'Shit! This is only getting worse! Forget killing him, I'll have to try using...other means. That Purotekutaai isn't THAT strong'

"My boy Danzou that" he punctuates with a kunai "is where you are wrong. I can tell exactly what you're thinking, and don't worry," he teleports faster than even the 4th Hokage could and put his mouth next to Danzou's ear and simply whispers "Bring it, nigga. I'm ready."

"Dammit Naruto, we cant ever have a normal meeting with you involved, can we?" Shikaku Nara says, burying his face into his hands and sighing heavily, as his friends move over to console and comfort him.

"Yeah, you know that's not gonna happen, its not entirely my fault either. See, these guys think I'm a demon, even though I just HOUSE the demon, and SHE helped me understand things better, and if you got a problem with that, then try your hardest to deny the truth. I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, wielder of the Purotekutaai, understudy of the hanyou Heryooku of the Purotekutaai, friend and ally of the Kyuubi no Yoko, and the next master of the Bloody Habanero sword style-damn that name really sucks-and I personally don't care. You guys tormented me, beat me, abused me and used me, and you're mad that now you lost your beating toy. I will become the best ninja I possibly can and potentially the next Hokage and now, you can't stop me. Uzumaki, out!" Naruto finishes, dropping a figurative microphone and walking out of the council room, leaving everyone wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Well that was...interesting. Anyone else have anything to demand that the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan heir do? No? then meeting adjourned!" Hiruzen says, banging a gavel that he randomly pulled out of a drawer.

"Lord Hokage, may we have a private word in your office?" the two elder "advisors" ask Hiruzen, who only sighs and motions them to follow him

'Can't a brotha get high? Damn.'

* * *

Hiashi was pacing in front of his daughter, thinking and plotting his next words carefully. He needed to be firm with her, but not too firm. She's already getting stronger, and if he was too firm he'd risk losing her completely, too soft and she wouldn't learn anything. Finally choosing his path, he prepares to speak.

"Hinata, I will not tolerate you disobeying me. As the heir to the Hyuuga clan you must be held to a higher standard." He stated firmly.

"Yes father..." Hinata says, looking down but not stuttering, maintaining that much strength.

"I understand Mr. Uzumaki is your boyfriend, but you cannot let emotions get in the way of your day to day operations." he takes a seat at his desk, grabbing some papers from his drawer and looking over them.

"I...I understand father, but-" she begins before Hiashi raises a hand to quell her next statement.

"Now, you've left me no other option but to do this, you are to do nothing but train for the next 4 days before graduation, is that clear?" he flashes a smile in his head 'but you don't know who your trainer is yet, dear daughter'

"Yes, father" she straightens up, standing up as to leave "is that all, father?"

"Yes, you will report to Mr. Uzumaki to continue your training 7 am sharp tomorrow, you are dismissed." he smiles at the look on his daughters face.

Hiashi Hyuuga was a firm man, but that didn't mean that he didn't care for his daughters well being and emotions. Over the years after Hana Hyuuga, the mother of both Hinata and Hanabi, died, he was a somber man, not wanting his daughters to be weak and succumb to death like his dear beloved had. But he thinks often of that day, knowing that she wouldn't want a once happy, exuberant yet fiercely strong man turn into a cold, unloving stick in the mud. She'd soon rather kick his ass then let that happen. He'll never forget the day he forgot their anniversary...

 **-Flashback-**

 _"Hiashi-kuuuuuun, forgetting something?" his wife gingerly strolls into the bedroom, a sickeningly sweet yet devious smile on her face._

 _"Huh? Oh...shit..." his face blanched, knowing exactly what was coming next. Pain, and lot's of it._

 **-Flashback end-**

He tenderly rubs his manhood in remembrance of that night, shuddering just a bit.

"Father? Are you sure?" she asks, unsure of whether or not he was being serious.

"Huh? Oh, oh yes dear, I'm serious, he's done wonders for you, how could I justify stopping you two's sessions over some silly love?" he snaps out of his daze, standing and straightening his kimono out.

"O-ok, thank you father, I will go clean up now." she bows and heads upstairs to wash up for supper 'huh, that's weird, I guess father knows best'

'I wonder what I missed out on at the most recent meeting, might as well go check up with Hiruzen'

* * *

Meanwhile in the office of one Hiruzen Sarutobi, shinobi world war four was close to commencing.

"No! I already fought you guys in the council room, I am NOT fighting you guys here!" he yells at his old teammates, unhappy with their persistence.

"But Hiruzen, we need to keep the Uchiha here! the more power we give him, the more he'll want to stay!" Homura argues back, seeing duck-butts hair in his eyes.

"Yes, we need to, we can't afford to lose such a powerful clan, let alone the Sharingan Hiruzen." Koharu back up Homura, standing firm in their beliefs.

"Yeah, and we can't afford to lose the heir to two MAJOR clans, the log-damn KYUUBI and something more powerful than the Sharingan, the Purotekutaai, which the last two in and of themselves are enough to make any person shit their britches when combined. Add in his father's jutsu, legacy and his mother's sword, and you can take the Uchiha and suck his balls for all I care! Be gone!" he orders the two advisors out of the room. He sighs a breath of relief, reaching for his pipe when he hears a knock on the door.

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHO IS IT NOW!?" he yells/asks, losing his patience quickly.

"Lord Hiruzen, it's me Hiashi Hyuuga. I'm here for a briefing on the council meeting I missed." Hiashi says through the door, unsure how bad the last meeting must've been if it had the Hokage on this much of a frenzy.

"Oh...ohhhhhhhhhhh, my apologies, come in Hiashi." he says, as Hiashi walks in and grabs a seat 'let's finish this so I can get to my damn smoke'

"Thank you, milord, so what-sniff sniff-what's that smell?" Hiashi stops, smelling something he hadn't smelled in a while. He looks over at Hiruzen, who slowly lowered his pipe from his mouth, as if he went slow Hiashi wouldn't see.

"Hehe, woops, forgot to clean out my pipe and put tobacco in it." Hiruzen laughs nervously, praying that Hiashi wouldn't snitch on him.

"I-is that marijuana, Hiruzen?" Hiashi asks, unsure if what he was seeing was real or just a very good illusion.

"Why no it isn't. Ok yea it is, but I can explain-" the Hokage starts, cut off by his guest next statement.

"Can I hit that pipe?" Hiashi asks, stone faced (pun intended)

"Wait, really?" Hiashi nods to the old man "Shit, spark it up!"

-2 HOURS LATER-

"*cough* I personally like the kid, yano? He's done a lot to work my daughter out of her shell, and I now trust that she can be the one to lead this clan eventually." the now stoned Hyuuga clan head says, passing the pipe back to the reigning Hokage.

"Yea but" he stops to take a drag off the pipe "the damn council's still sucking Uchiha pecker, and it's annoying, ya feel me? They need some of this good good and some damn common sense." he gestures towards the bag, packing his pipe with more of the sticky green foliage.

"Yeah but in all honesty, it's not gonna happen, and someone needs to change the Uchiha, but the only one I know of that can is-"

"Is Naruto, you're correct Hiashi, that's why I've made the teams this year, Team 7 being Uchiha, Uzumaki and Haruno, and the Haruno girl herself needs help too. I have faith that Naruto will be able to help both of them, or they will die in the process." Hiruzen finishes for Hiashi, passing the piece back to him.

"Tch man, let's not think about things like that, let's just get something to eat man." he says, the munchies kicking in.

I feel bad for their next victim...

* * *

 _"Both you and Heryooku-sensei wanted to talk, Kyuu-chan?"_ he addresses the fox and hanyou in his mind.

 _ **"Yes, underling, you handled the council...better than you could have. But don't go getting confident and cocky, there are still tons of better shinobi than you. Well, some, but definitely no one in your class, not even the damn Uchiha, his Sharingan is worthless compared to the Purotekutaai."**_ the hanyou states, hoping for his student to take his words to heart.

 **"He's not wrong, Naruto-kun. We haven't even began my training for my chakra. Once you get a grip on that and your Purotekutaai, matched with your sword skills, your father's Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, you're gonna be a force to reckon with."** the fox cuts in, eager to start training the boy to use her chakra, once he does that then he can summon a small, more...kawaii version of her full fox form.

 _"I know guys, I just cant wait to stretch my wings in battle and fly. Even though I'm sure it'll still be a few months after team placements before we get a GOOD mission."_

 **"I know, now, let's get started on your bijuu chakra training 101. It all starts with..."**

And there they trained, and conversed about the past, the present and what the future holds.

* * *

TIME SKIP- 4 DAYS -GRADUATION DAY

* * *

The day has come. Graduation day at Konoha academy. The day that they decide who will continue in their ninja training, and who will go home. They started piling in one by one until the classroom was full of hopeful ninja, ready to take the test and prove their worth.

"Okay class, you will have to form 3 perfect or passing Bunshin, perform a good transformation and replacement technique, then we can move on to the Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and weapons portion of the evaluation. First up, Sakura Haruno." he finishes. She performed perfectly, as expected, and the line dwindled down to the last two, Uchiha and Uzumaki-Namikaze.

"Will Sasuke Uchiha please come forward."

"Hn, I'm bout to show you what a true ninja looks like, dobe" the cocky and arrogant Uchiha heir says as he passes Naruto, stepping up and performing flawlessly, passing Naruto on the way back to his seat with a smirk.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you're next"

"Here I go" he gives Hinata a quick peck on the lips for good luck, heading to the front of the class.

"You ready?" Iruka asks him, preparing his score pad.

"Quick question, do Kage Bunshin count?" he asks the instructor, hoping for a yes.

Iruka nods in his direction "I wouldn't see why not."

Naruto gives him a firm nod, putting his fingers in the seal for them "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he yells out, as 3 perfect copies of himself form, functional and all. Next, he transforms himself and all three of his clones into perfect replicas of the four Hokage, himself being his father, before one of them throws a kunai at him, allowing him to quickly replace himself with...a log...a random log...

"Praise the log, amen." he mutters, getting an amen from both Mizuki and Iruka. "So did I pass this part?" he asks eagerly.

"Yes with the highest score, congratulations" Mizuki confirms, getting a steamed look from the Uchiha and his fan club.

Naruto was met with cries of cheater and cheat, brushing it all off as the failures leave the room and they move outside for the final portion.

"I need Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga please!" Iruka yells, as the two meet in the circle and bow. "The rules are as follows, no Ninjutsu, no Genjutsu, no Kenjutsu, no shots below the belt, and you will stop on my command, got it?" both girls nod sternly "Good, Hajime!"

Just like that, Sakura launches forward and throws a stiff jab at Hinata's face, who easily ducks and hit's a few tenketsu before leaping backwards, re-entering her stance and motioning for Sakura to come.  
Irritated, she runs forward again and throws another jab, only for it to be caught by Hinata. She tries throwing a leg kick into Hinata's ribs, but that get's caught too, and Hinata uses that advantage to bring Sakura to the ground and onto her hands and knees, where she wraps an arm around her neck and locks in, squeezing till Sakura had no option but to tap.

"Winner, Hinata Hyuuga!" Mizuki declares, leaving many people stunned at the flawlessness of Hinata's attacks.

She bows and helps Sakura to her feet, before moving to the sideline and giving her boyfriend a kiss. Shikamaru lost to Choji, Ino beat an unnamed kunoichi, Kiba beat Shino, and then it was time for the main event. Again.

"Will Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki join me, please!"

They both move to the ring and stare each other down, not moving an inch.

"You're going down, dead last." Sasuke sneers, spitting at Naruto's feet, as his fan club cheers him on.

"We shall see, Uchiha-san" he reaches out a hand for Sasuke to shake, who only slaps it away and moves to his side of the ring, bringing more cheers from the fan club. 'So be it, Sasuke-kun, I was hoping we'd have a good match.'

"Ready? Hajime!"

Sasuke rushes forwards and starts throwing strike after strike at the blonde ninja, who ducks, dodges and parries easily and with no effort, annoying the Uchiha and forcing him to back up for a second. He rushes back in, only to be met by a stiff kick to the gut launching him back and almost out of the circle. He get's back up and dusts himself off.

"Stop playing around dobe and let me kick your ass!" he screams, at which Naruto just simply puts his arms behind his back and says "Bring it."

He rushes in to finish Naruto off, grinning wildly, but that grin is eliminated when Naruto shoots a super kick to his chin and launches him back and into a tree, well out of the circle, leaving everyone except Hinata stunned and angry.

"He cheated!"  
"There's no way!"  
"Sasuke-kun should win by default!"  
"Oh Sasuke-kun, he shouldn't get treated like this!"  
"I like pie..."

"Enough! I am a Chuunin and even I know they didn't cheat, neither of them! Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Mizuki yell's out, quieting the crowd of Genin hopefuls.

The Genjutsu test went relatively quiet, Naruto opted out, saving his Purotekutaai for another day 'hopefully I wont have to use it SOON soon'

The weapons test, well, it went relatively smooth, Naruto and Hinata dumbed it down so they didn't look suspiciously strong, just good at Taijutsu.

"Now onto the Ninjutsu test, Hinata Hyuuga, you're first"

She nods, and walks up to a tree, standing a good 25 feet away she launches a jab at the air, which in turn launched a gust of wind so fast it cut the tree cleanly in half. She bowed and walked back to Naruto, who was thinking 'well, that Futon training was a success after all.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you're up!"

He puts on a smirk 'this'll show that bitch and the dobe' "Katon-Goukakyuu no jutsu!" he yells out, spitting out a fireball that disintegrates the tree that Hinata chopped down. 'Hn, beat that, dobe.' he thinks as Naruto walks up, and whispers to Sasuke as he passes his "Oh I will, teme", leaving Sasuke with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Naruto makes a single hand sign and closes his eyes, focusing on the sky, and calls out "Suiton!". As he says that, a single cloud rolls over and puts out Sasuke's flame easily, and then moves over and rains on Sasuke, before disappearing, getting a cheap laugh from Iruka and Mizuki and pissing Sasuke off even more.

After calling the name of those who failed, Iruka speaks up one more time. "Ok guys, report back to here 8 am sharp in one week from today to meet your team mates. Also, Rookie and Kunoichi of the year will be announced then, you are dismissed!"

* * *

The group of graduating ninja's and kunoichi's were gathered outside, chatting and conversing, congratulating and celebrating finally becoming full fledged ninja. Of course, the Sasuke fan club was in full force, comforting the brooding heir to the Uchiha clan as he sat there and sulked in silence at the defeat by the loud-mouthed dead last, or so they thought. 'Why him? He's weak, he shouldn't have-couldn't have beat me! I'm destined to get to the bottom of this!' Sasuke thinks to himself, inwardly grinning at the thought of exposing the blonde ninja as a fraud, cheat and a hoax. 'Uchiha will reign supreme once again!'.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the rookie 9 minus Ino and Sakura, they were conversing about who will be with who, and who the sensei's will be. It was such a surreal moment, for everyone. Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Naruto and Shino were all thinking about things, separate things, probably.

'So troublesome, I hope I don't get stuck with a screeching, crying fan girl. If so...I'll probably do nothing, maybe just watch clouds or play shogi. But what's with Naruto and Hinata? Troublesome...'

'I'm SO hungry, hopefully this ends soon, I want me some barbecue and chips and cake. Today cannot go ANY slower. But, I don't know what's up with Naruto and Hinata.'

'Boy, look at all these babes! Oh yeah, I'm a full fledged ninja now boy! Imagine all the hot tail I'll get now that I will have a hitai-ite and everything, right boy? What's up with Hinata and Naruto though?'

'Woof! Woof!'

'Me and Naruto kun, ninja? Eeeeeeeee! *gasp* what if we're on the same team!? Log don't fail me now!'

'Please? Come on Kyuu-chan! They'll love your tiny fox form, believe it! Ow! Okay, alright! I won't say that again, damn! But still...it's so kawaiiiiiiiiii-ow! Ow! Okay okay I'll stop, geez!'

'I believe that this can be a positively enlightening experience, albeit it would be against my best interest if I was paired with a kunoichi that had more...frivolous actions on her mind instead of taking the business of a ninja seriously, But Naruto-san and Hinata-san's actions have been quite strange compared to their actions of the previous months. Time shall tell all.'

"Okay, I'm gonna come out and say it, the hell is up with you two?" Kiba pipes up, gesturing to the two lovebird ninjas. "One day, you're quiet, shy and timid." he looks at Hinata, who just stares back "and you, you sucked at EVERYTHING, and was a loudmouth, and now you're kicking rookie of the year's ass? I call bull-shenanigans." he looks at Naruto, who just smiles and waves at him.

"Well, Kiba, guess you could say I was faking it? Or maybe something-or someone-opened my mind up and took me to another level" Hinata looks at her blonde boyfriend, and takes his hand as smiles at him.

"That's not the only thing you fake..." he mumbles, garnering a slap from the lavender beauty "Ow! Damn troublesome women always hurting me. Sorry, Hina-chan, and yea Kiba, one day the truth will be revealed. But for now, it's best if everything is kept in the dark, for mine, Hinata-chan's and everyone else's safety"

"Aw! Don't be lying son, you know you can tell us!" Kiba eggs on, trying to ebb an answer out of the couple.

"Kiba-" Hinata began but was cut off by an unlikely person. Shino.

"Kiba, they're friends and acquaintances of ours, if they say they can't tell us, then I have no reason to not believe them, as that is what friend's do. I have faith in my now-comrades." He says, everyone surprised at the mouthful of words that came from the normally quiet bug expert. He looks at Naruto and Hinata and tips his head to them, and they return the nod with a professional sense.

"Geez, Shino, I guess when you do talk, it's for a reason." Kiba laughs and pat's Shino on the shoulder with an audible clap.

"Hmm, troublesome but understandable. So, who do you think the sensei's will be, guys?" Shikamaru cut's in, ending the conversation at that note.

"I heard a rumor that Kakashi no Sharingan was one of the potential sensei's" Choji says, busting out an emergency bag of chips.

As the conversation leapt on, Shikamaru was deep in thought, arguing in his mind about the potential answers to the Naru-Hina situation. 'I noticed Naruto sat out the Genjutsu portion, if he advanced that much in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, why not Genjutsu? Plus I believe Kage Bunshin is and S-ranked technique for people who have high, HIGH chakra content. Why a Genin has that much chakra is a concern, unless...It's plausible. Hinata, on the other hand, that's a different story. I heard it from the grapevine that they have been training together, and that she is shaping up to be a Genjutsu master and a Taijutsu beast. Log, it pays off to be a fly on the wall, now I just need to get the two together. If my hunches are correct, this just became more troublesome...'

"Shika, you there?" Kiba asks, dangling a pocket watch in front of the pineapple-boys face.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah I'm here. Where'd Naruto and Hinata go?" he asks the dog boy, hoping to catch up to them and find out the truth.

"Ichiraku's. Why-oh, you're gone. Bye, Shika!" Kiba yells after the lazy ninja, as he takes off to catch the troublesome duo.

* * *

He was running, as fast as he can but it seemed like he was getting nowhere, the target fading away from him. 'Damn it, this is too troublesome. It seems like I'm getting nowhere...wait...that's it! Genjutsu! Kai!' he expels the Genjutsu to find himself in a dark room, sat down at a table with two familiar faces looking back at him.

"Hey, Shika-kun, so you finally figured it out uh?" A female voice asks him, a smooth-as-water voice gracing his ears. The world was swirling in his ears and his vision blurring, nausea setting in as he tries to break the multi-layered Genjutsu.

"H-Hinata, w-w-what's going o-on? K-kai!" Said Shika-kun broke the second Genjutsu, now landing on a table, his arms and legs strapped into the 4 corners of it, as the same two faces looked down on him with a sadistic smile.

"Oh, Shika, sometimes, the truth hurts, are you sure that you're ready for the truth? Good! 'Cuz here it comes!" the next voice, a mid-tone, males voice breaks the silence, as he drives down a knife towards the immobile ninja.

"N-Naruto! NO! Kai!" he yells out, disabling the third illusion, being left falling mid air towards the ground rapidly. he closes his eyes and tries to breath calmly, focusing his chakra to break the fourth and what would be final Genjutsu. He tells out kai one more time as he lands on his ass roughly. Getting up and dusting himself off he found himself in the middle of a empty, barren room. He reaches out his senses and detects no illusion. 'Where in log's name am I?'.

"Welcome to the mansion of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Shikamaru-san, follow me this way as we go on a journey through time" a clone of Naruto said after popping into existence, scaring the ever-living hell out of the aforementioned Nara heir.

"Naruto, I don't know what type of game you're playing but it seems as if I have no other choice but to play along. Let's go." Shikamaru follows the clone out of the door and into a hallway lined with paintings, one that seemed to never end 'I don't detect Genjutsu, so what is this?'.

"All shall be revealed in due time, Nara-san. let's take a look at one important piece of history, the battle where the 4th Hokage got his nickname, but more importantly, his wife Kushina, and where she got her nickname from, the Bloody Habanero." the clone gestured to the painting, as Shikamaru glances into it.

'What the...' the picture before him seemed to start movie, as if it was a movie. He bared witness to the legendary kunoichi slash and chop down enemy after enemy, as her husband fought side by side with her, the sword of hers dancing through the battlefield. It was enticing to watch, he had to admit. He began to wonder what the point of this was, till he noticed it. Her eyes. 'What type of Doujutsu is that?' he wonders to himself, never before having seen the blue and black kekkei genkai.

"Moving along. October 10th, the night my creator was born, and the night the Kyuubi attacked the leaf village, hell bent on destroying it."

Once again, the picture moved like a movie, as he watched the battle play out before him. Suddenly, it went black and he heard a baby crying. When the scene came back to life, he saw the 4th holding a baby in his hands, and heard the words that he spoke to it. 'Oh Naruto, I'm sorry it must be this way, but even your moms Purotekutaai and my skill couldn't match up to the Kyuubi, I pray the village finds you as a hero, not a burden. I'm sorry son, goodbye.' and with that, the almighty Kyuubi was sealed into the stomach of the clones creator.

"Now, to the events of a few weeks ago."

'Troublesome.'

He saw the lady, internally chastising the blonde for falling for the oldest trick in the book, but understanding his empathy for people. He froze at the moment he saw the same eyes that he saw in Kushina, on the woman, or so they both thought, that hypnotized him. After sitting through his conversation with and the reading of the letter that his father, Minato Namikaze, had left him, even he couldn't help but be a bit moved by it.

"Next and final one, the night he found out the whole truth."

The memories played before him as he was locked into the moving picture. Naruto and Hinata, loving each other, caring for each other, like a true couple should. He narrowed his eyes at the drawing part, again seeing the same eyes in the attacker as he saw in the woman and Kushina before. 2 and 2 slowly started piecing together for him. 'Hmmm, still troublesome...'. He watched the scene of explanation, learning the name of the hanyou, learning of the Purotekutaai, his eyes widening, realizing exactly how all of THIS was possible. 'This, is definitely interesting...oh god!' well it seems he reached the part of Naruto's torture- I mean training.

"Follow me, Nara-san." the clone lead him down the hall, for what seemed like eternity, before reaching a door. "In there, you shall find the truth that you heart sustains for, my journey end here, and yours shall only begin." the clone said, before dispelling.

'Huh, Naruto I swear to log if you're not in this room...' he swings open the door, showing Naruto, Hinata, Heryooku no Purotekutaai and the Kyuubi in human form sitting at a dinner table, set for 5 with a full meal ready and prepared. "Well, this is gonna take awhile, isn't it?"

"Shikamaru, your brilliance never let's me down, come, sit and eat as we talk." the hanyou Heryooku speaks, a voice gravelly yet strong.

"Do I have another choice?" he asks, to the answer of everyone shaking their heads no slowly. "Well, might as well"

"I'm sorry it had to be this way Shika, but there's just no easy way to come out and say 'Hey! my dads the bloody 4th and my mom was the bloody habanero, oh by the way I also have an extremely rare kekkei genkai, the demon fox Kyuubi and a hanyou in me all at once!'." Naruto reasons with Shikamaru, who seems to grasp the concept, yet still curious about one thing.

"What would've happened if I didn't break the Genjutsu?"

"Well, _Shika-kun_ ," starts Hinata in the sugar sweet voice from the illusion that made him shiver at the thought of it "if you didn't, you would've just been knocked out and returned to your bedroom by me or Naruto-kun. Easy peasy."

"So, everything I saw was true, the sword, the house, the Kyuubi, the eyes, everything?" Shikamaru asks, as everyone continues digging into the magical meal before them, before realizing he hadn't touched his plate.

"Yep! You can just call me Kurama or Kura-chan if you would please." the woman with fox tails says, smiling gently at Shikamaru.

"And the Kyuubi-sorry, Kurama is a girl?"

"We can take a trip back to the hallway, if you'd like"

"No thanks."

"That's what I thought. Yes, Shikamaru-san, everything you saw was 100 percent real, you figured out his heritage and fox situation on your own so I figured, might as well divulge the whole truth since even that is an S-ranked secret." Heryooku pushes his plate away and walks up to Shikamaru, activating his Purotekutaai and looking at Shikamaru. "They're very real. And very dangerous, son. You'd best not be spilling anything to anyone, ya hear?"

"Y-yes sir, Heryooku-san." the troublesome sloth replies, shaking a bit from being that close to what could be the deadliest kekkei genkai out there. "I had heard stories of such a kekkei genkai existing, but I chalked it up to old war stories and left it at that."

"Wisely so, its best not to dig where you probably shouldn't, look where it landed you." Kurama speaks as she pushes her plate away "I can sense my presence is fading as well as Hery-kun's, so I'm afraid we must get going, play nice children." she finishes as she and the hanyou fade away into thin air.

"Naruto, where do we go from here? I know the truth now, so shouldn't we, like, be on the same team?" Shika asks, curious as to what the next steps are in his master plan.

"No, the teams have been set and decided, it's best if we not mess with them, even if me and Hinata-chan get separated. We must balance out the wisdom and skill evenly, plus if I get stuck with Sasuke like I have a hunch I am, I can help him dig his head out of his ass and wise up. Lord knows he and Sakura need it." the blonde finished, as his girlfriend nods slowly in agreement.

"He's right, Shikamaru-kun, if we were all on the same team and we became the 'strongest team of the year', even more suspicions would be raised as to how and why the three of us got exponentially stronger in a matter of weeks."

"Agreed, I see what you guy's mean. Not to be a drag but..." Shikamaru trails off as they both catch his drift.

"Yea, yea, you wanna go back so you can sleep and cloud watch and think all this sudden information over, I got you. Come take my hand and I'll release you from the compounds of my mind." Naruto stands up and meets pineapple boy halfway down the table. "Goodbye, Shika."

"Later, yo." the lazy ninja says, before Naruto channels his chakra, releasing him into the world as he realizes he was in bed the whole time. 'Smart people...' he trails off, before catching more rest. It was about to get even more troublesome in Konoha.

* * *

TEAM ASSIGNMENT DAY, 8 AM, KONOHA ACADEMY

* * *

The day couldn't've came any quicker for any of the shinobi sitting in the room that day. Twas the day they were going to find out exactly who was with who, and who was going to be their sensei. The door opened up as everyone quieted up, looking on as Iruka and Mizuki walked in, a box of hitai-ite's in their hands. It was Iruka who spoke first.

"Welcome all, and congratulations on passing the academy test and becoming official ninja of the leaf village!" he announces to applause from most of the ninja in the room. "This is just the beginning of your lives as ninja, as you will continue on from here and learn, grow into more splendid shinobi of this fine village we live in. We will start this by announcing the winner of Kunoichi of the Year. And the winner is: Hinata Hyuuga!" Iruka announces to applause again by most of the shinobi, as Hinata goes and accepts the status and hitai-ite from her former academy sensei.

"Now, this has never happened before in academy history, but here it goes. We have a tie for Rookie of the Year." he announces as Sasuke stares holes into Naruto's head 'that damn dobe! taking my title from me, how dare he!' "and the two rookies are: Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki!" this time, the applause was much less in number as the two went and received their headbands from Iruka, as Sasuke stomps back to his seat and broods.

"Okay, now comes time for the team assignment, I will say your name, announce your sensei and he/she will instruct you from there, ok? Team 1 is..." and Iruka carried on the announcements before he hit team 7. "Team 7 will consist of Sasuke Uchiha," a grunt was heard from the corner "Sakura Haruno," and a subsequent squeal was heard from close to the aforementioned Uchiha "and Naruto Uzumaki." only to be killed by the announcement of her third and final teammate, making her grunt in displeasure. "Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake, who is...late, as us-" but he get's cut off by a silver haired man walking into the classroom, a mask covering his face partially.

"Ohayo! I'm Kakashi Hatake, will team seven meet me at the rooftop in 15 minutes? Good, I'll be waiting!" the silver haired Jounin disappeared in a flash of light and smoke as Iruka sighed and continued on with his announcements.

"Okay, now that that's done, team 8 will be Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, and your Jounin sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi."

'Oh, joy, I can deal with Shino, but Kiba? This is gonna take some patience, at least Kurenai-sensei will be there to help me...'

'Awesome, I get stuck with Hinata the babe! But Shino is weird man, oh well, at least I can try to score with Hinata!"

'Kiba, you'll be one sorry fool to try and mess with Ms. Hinata, our friend Naruto might have to a _talk_ with you...'

"And finally, since team 9 is still in rotation, team ten will be the reformation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akamichi, and your Jounin sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. I thank you all for your patience and being here with me in these past years and I wish you the best of luck. Class, finally, dismissed!"

"Come on baka, let's not be late to meet Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura bashes Naruto over the head, only for Naruto to...dispel, he was a clone the entire time.

So where was he actually at?

* * *

Kakashi rounded the corner on the stairwell to find Naruto sitting up there, waiting for him. He gave him an eye smile and took a seat next to him, waiting for the final two.

It was Naruto who broke the silence. "You served on a team led by the 4th, correct?" he asks, hoping it didn't bring up too many repressed memories.

"Huh? Oh, why yes, why do you ask?"

"Kakashi-sensei, you already know, you just don't want to admit it." Naruto blankly states, staring the cyclops in the eyes, err, eye.

"Naruto, I'd have to be blind to not see your resemblance, I just never knew for sure. But you do?" Kakashi asks, curious as to how he would know about such a thing.

Naruto tosses his fathers scroll to Kakashi, who reads it with wide eyes, and a single tear forming, slowly rolling down his face and chin.

"Yea, it's him, Hokage-JiJi authenticated it and everything, just thought I'd let you know before they got up here. Less loose ends to clean uo and worry about, amirite?" Naruto jabs Kakashi in the ribs softly, who gives him an angry face for a second, before pulling him into a hug and ruffling his hair. "Oh yea, one more thing sensei."

"Yea?" Kakashi asked, turning his head only to meet the eyes of the blazing Purotekutaai. "N-Naruto, h-h-how did you-" he was about to ask, before the information flooded his mind, filling his head with everything Shikamaru saw, as Kakashi nod's in understanding, knowing that they would talk later.

"And I know it goes without saying, Kakashi-sensei, but please-"

"Don't tell anyone, let alone Sasuke or Sakura, I know. Speaking of the two..." Kakashi trails off as the two round the corner, panting as they look at Naruto angrily.

"Dobe, how did you get up here so quickly?" the Uchiha asked forcefully, in between panting and coughing.

"My legs." was the simple statement made by Naruto, who just leaned back and waited for them to sit.

"Baka, tell Sasuke-kun now!" the banshee screamed, causing Naruto to cover his ears and just flick her off, as he grabs a soda and pops it open.

"Settle down, youngins, take a seat, let's get to know each other better. I'll start, my name is Kakashi Hatake, I'm a Jounin, I enjoy reading, training and sleeping, my dislikes are scum and trash that leave their friends behind, and my dream, well, that's none of your business" he finishes with an eye smile

"Fine, I'll go. My name is Sakura Haruno, my likes are," she looks at Sasuke and giggles, who just sighs "I dislike Naruto-baka!" he just simply ignores her and puts on his pair of shades that just randomly appeared "and my dreams, well..." and again, she looks at Sasuke and giggles, who prepares to go next.

"My name, is Sasuke Uchiha, my likes are non-existent-"

"Like his dick" Naruto cuts in, getting two annoyed looks and a look that wants to laugh but cant.

"Ahem, my dislikes are none of your concern-"

"What he means is 'my dislikes are women but I don't want to say it because I'm a little girllllll'" Naruto says, in a semi-shrilly voice, as Kakashi struggles to hold in his laughs.

"Grr, my dreams are to restore my clan and kill a _certain someone-"_

"And that certain someone would be the guy who cut his hair, 'cuz log-damn it looks like a ducks ass!" Naruto finishes as Kakashi can't hold it in and busts out laughing, rolling on the floor as his other two pupils look at him and Naruto angrily.

'I'll show you, dobe!'

After Kakashi stopped laughing, Naruto started his "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like Hinata-chan, ramen and drawing, my dislikes are arrogant pricks who think they're better than everyone because of their last name, and my dream is to become Hokage and lead this village into peace and prosperity."

"Alright guy's, meet me at training ground 7 at 6 am sharp, and don't eat breakfast, we're gonna do a little test. Arigatou!" Kakashi once again disappeared, but not before he secretly slipped Naruto a note, with a simple message.

'meet me at tonfa's at 7 pm sharp, we have to have a dinner, and catch up. Love, Kakashi.'

'*sigh* but first, Hinata-chan.'

He leapt off into the skyline, headed to find his lavender love.

* * *

"Are you sure? I don't see why he would be here."

"Stop being weak and disobedient, son! You know he's here."

"I know father, I just can't wrap my head around WHY he'd be here."

"Does it matter?"

"No."

"Well then, go find your brother, and bring him home.

"Yes, father."

* * *

A/N: and that's the end of chapter 4! I've upped the word count to around 9300 to make up for the shotty first two chapters, and I hope y'all stick around, I promise it'll be like this from now on! Read and review please, adios!


	5. Hardships

**A/N:** _I've decided to postpone the re-writing of chapter 2 for now, so I can get the first and fifth chapters out. Enjoy!  
_

* * *

"In the end, does it all even matter?"

* * *

Here they were, the Genin hopefuls sitting at the training ground, waiting for their sensei to show up. He had said 6 am, but anyone who knew him knew it would be a few hours. 9 am rolled by before the silver haired Kakashi showed up to the dismay of the three ninja in training.

"YOU'RE LATE, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" the bubble gum girl Sakura exclaims in her shrilly, screeching voice, making her two teammates grimace and cover their ears.

"Ne, the banshee is right though, sensei, you are late. You would do good to try and show up on time next time, right?" Naruto asks, secretly planning his revenge on his late but present sensei.

"Ma, sure, I just got lost on the road of life. Now, onto the test. It's simple, you three have exactly 2 hours to get a bell from me." Kakashi pulls out two bells from the pouch on his hip "However, there's only two, meaning whoever fails to get one gets to spend another 6 months at the academy, before being placed on another team. Understand?"

"But Kakashi-sensei, that's unfair! We already passed the test, why would we get sent back?" Sakura whines out 'Cha! But if anyone is getting a bell, it's me and Sasuke, cha!'

"Well, my little underling, life's unfair, now begin!" and with that, Sasuke and Sakura disappeared, leaving Naruto alone to face the Jounin commander.

"Ha, you really think I'm falling for that, Kakashi-sensei?" he asks, his hands on his hips, a grin on his face.

"I didn't think so, but those two did. The question now is, what are YOU gonna do, Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asks his mentor's son, mentally preparing for what's next.

"I dunno, I figured we could spar, try out a few things, and maybe get a bell." the blonde shrugs, preparing to enact his plan.

"Well, I think that's a good idea-what the!" Kakashi yells, feeling his little orange book slip from his pouch and appear in Naruto's hands.

"Haha! I cant believe that ACTUALLY worked!" he hold the book in his hand, a look of victory on his face. He had a low powered clone sneak behind Kakashi and steal his book when he least expected it.

"Well, well, you got my book, instead of a bell, what's next huh?" a semi pissed Kakashi asks.

"We play a game, sensei." He makes a clone, having it hold the book, with a kunai pointed at it "We're gonna spar, and if I win, I get both the bells, if you win, you get your book back, and sensei-" Naruto opens his eyes with his Purotekutaai activated "I'm going all in, I hope you are too"

"I-is that what I think it is? Never mind, even with it, I've got your number, Naruto-san. Lets do this" with that final statement, the two, Jounin and Genin, clash, trading punch for punch and kick for kick, Naruto surprising Kakashi with his speed and strength.

They went back and forth with pure Taijutsu before Kakashi launched a fireball at Naruto, a weak one yes, but a fireball nonetheless.

"I've got some surprises up my sleeve, sensei, and here is one. Suiton: Mizu Tate no jutsu!" Naruto shouts out, forming a solid, cylindrical water shield around him, forcing the ball of fire to fizzle out into steam as the shield falls.

Decently shocked, Kakashi wasn't prepared for the blondes next move. "Doton: Shuriken no jutsu!" as he yelled that out, multiple earth shuriken launched themselves at the copycat ninja, who dodges all but one that nicked his leg, causing a minor cut.

"Ah Naruto-kun, two elements, a good surprise indeed. But here is something you don't have a counter for, Raiton: Raikurai no jutsu!" the Jounin launched a bolt of lightning at the Genin, just strong enough to numb him long enough to be knocked out.

"Futon: Daitoppa!" Naruto inhaled massively, and exhaled a large gust of wind that dissipated the bolt of lightning and made Kakashi stand his ground firm as to not get blown away. Moving again, he ran through more hand seals, not letting his sensei rest "Futon: Furyuu no jutsu!" he launched a massive wind dragon at Kakashi, who quickly flashed out of the way as the dragon made impact, shaking the earth around them.

As this was going on, Naruto had made two clones to take care of Sasuke and Sakura.

Sasuke was strolling the forest part of the training ground, oblivious to the battle going on between his fellow teammate and his sensei. It seemed like he had been walking in a circle for eternity, before he had realized that he was, passing the same tree for the fifteenth time.

"Huh, what's going on-urk!" he couldn't finish that thought as a needle had hit his neck, knocking him out cold.

Onto Sakura, she was, for a lack of a better term, freaking out, maaaaaan.

"Oh log, where am I? I'm lost, help! urk!" it was almost too easy, as the Naruto clone dragged her to her teammate, tying them both to a tree to keep them out of the way of the battle. What wonders Genjutsu and a bit of poisoned senbon can do.

Back to the battle, Kakashi had finally gotten the upper hand on Naruto, forcing him to retreat a bit with his extensive Ninjutsu list.

"Naruto-kun, it appears I finally have your number, do you surrender?" he asks his pupil, who was heaving from exhaustion.

"You know me, sensei, I'll never surrender." Naruto made a 'come' motion with his hand, preparing for the next Taijutsu battle, one he was sure to win this time.

He had fought valiantly to his sensei's surprise, but this needed to end soon, as the both prepared for one last onslaught.

Naruto and Kakashi bolted forward, both intent on finishing this battle, but just as they were about to meet, Naruto slid between Kakashi's legs, popping up behind him and kicking him high into the air.

"Now, for one more surprise Kakashi-sensei, meet my father's unfinished technique, the Rasengan!" Naruto made a clone that formed a incomplete Rasengan in his hand, before he jumped, appearing above Kakashi as he rammed the Rasengan into him. Making sure it was low powered enough that he didn't seriously hurt him, they both hit the ground hard, neither of them getting up.

"N-Naruto, c-c-can we call this a t-tie?" Kakashi sputters out, unable to move barely, both in pain and in shock that his pupil almost bested him in battle.

"S-sure, s-sensei." the blonde ninja breaths out, in the same position as his sensei.

"S-say, what did y-you do with the o-other two, Naruto?" Kakashi asks, curious to the whereabouts of the other two team members.

"Knocked out, tied to tree, get them after rest."

"A-agreed."

After a hour of laying on the ground, Naruto had woken the two and let them run free to meet him and Kakashi, letting them believe that it was Kakashi that knocked them out. Kakashi gathered them there to issue them the bad news, of course he didn't mention the 'light spar' with Naruto.

"Now, since you guys failed to realize the purpose of the test, you failed. However." he raises a hand to stop them from whining. "I have decided to give you an extra 30 minutes to give me your best teamwork you can come up with. Go!"

"Sasuke, Sakura, I have a plan." Naruto tells the two, hoping to get them to listen.

"Yea, like it's gonna work, he knocked both of us out like that baka, what makes you think this will work?" Sakura berates Naruto, about to clobber him over the head before Sasuke stops her.

"Stop, Sakura, I'm kind of curious to hear this 'plan' of his." Sasuke says, stopping the pink haired girl from effectively screwing them.

"Thanks, Duck-san, now here's the plan." and Naruto launched into the plan and, after he was done glaring at Naruto for the fowl honorific, conceded that this might actually work.

"Hmm, it's unfortunately our best shot, dobe. Lets do it."

"Ok, Sakura, you ready?"

"Sure, baka."

Kakashi was sitting there, on his toes knowing now not to take Naruto and his plans lightly. He sees Naruto come out of the formation, a familiar orange book in his hand.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, you lose something?" Naruto yells out to him, waving the orange book around.

"Damn, I knew I was forgetting something. Tell you what, if you give me the book, y'all pass."

"Ok"

"Damn, that was easy" Sasuke says, kinda shocked that it actually worked.

"Told you, teme." Naruto grins at his two teammates.

"Wow, the one time the baka makes a stupid plan and it ACTUALLY works!" Sakura exclaims, shaking her head at the blonde in front of her.

"Eh, I was gonna pass you guys anyways, I just wanted to see what you could come up with, however-" he flashes in front of the three, snatching his book and looking them dead in the eye "I have a motto, 'those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are less than trash.'. Starting tomorrow, we will start training, working on teamwork and doing D rank missions, understand?" he asks his pupils.

He was met with a chorus of 'Hai, sensei!'

"Good, meet me here again at 7 am sharp, and I'll actually be on time for once, I promise, dismissed!"

And with that, the road to being a ninja started for all three of them, but if only they knew what lied ahead for them...

* * *

 _ **TWO WEEKS LATER...**_

'I've got the target I sight, 15 clicks to the east.'

'Roger roger.'

'Naruto-baka, don't blow this.'

'Ne, Sakura, have faith.'

'Naruto, do it!'

'Ok, here I come I am cinnamon!'

A loud screeching was heard, along with hissing, and a lot of curses, but the man was successful in his journeys.

'Target: Tora, Status: Secure, mission success!' Naruto called over their radios, returning to his two teammates, the cat that was the subject of their search in his arms.

"Wow, I'm surprised dobe, you did it with minimal scratches." Sasuke, the Uchiha heir, exclaims, motioning for Kakashi to come join them.

"Ma, ma, good work Naruto-kun, and splendid work on the radios you two, lets go finish this and get our pay." the Jounin sense of team 7 informs them, as they head off to the mission room.

It had been 2 weeks since graduation and team placement and the teamwork of team 7 was getting better, in a sense. They argued less, kind of, but the most important factor was the Taijutsu teamwork both Naruto and Sasuke had found. Of course, Sasuke was a bit bitter at Naruto and his Ninjutsu catalog, but as usual he thought he was superior. He didn't know, however, that Naruto possessed more than just jutsu, he has his sword, too, which he was almost confident in enough to start carrying it.

Sakura was, well, still Sakura. Her fawning over Sasuke had gotten ever so slightly better, but her treatment of Naruto was seriously lacking improvement. Kakashi was hoping that these D missions would help her see that Naruto was an important aspect of the team, but she was still blind.

As they walked into the mission room, the lords wife that had requested the mission of her cat being returned was currently smothering the poor creature as team 7 watched on, no longer wondering why the cat liked to run away so many successive times.

"Alright, team 7, we have cutting an old mans lawn, picking weeds at the Yamanaka household or babysitting, pick your poison." the elderly Hokage Hiruzen calls out to the team, who was not happy with the choices they were presented with.

"How about neither, JiJi! I want a REAL mission! I believe we're ready, ne sensei?" Naruto and his outburst were met with a glare from Kakashi and Sakura.

"Naruto, the Hokage will decide when we are ready."

"Yea baka!"

"Actually, I concur with the dobe. I think we're ready." Sasuke surprisingly agrees with Naruto

"Kakashi, after watching your team in their proficiency in D ranked missions, I do think they could use a simple C rank. We have one just for you, a simple escort job to the Land of Waves, you are to escort a bridge builder from simple thugs and return upon delivery." the Hokage says, shocking Sakura and Kakashi, and calling the bridge builder in.

"Really, I'm paying you and this is the best I get? A few fresh twerps and one Jounin?" the drunken bridge builder asks, slurring his words and staring at Naruto "What's with the look on your face, punk?"

"Oh, nothing, Mr. Bridge Builder, just let me assure you that me and my teammates are more than enough to guard you on your journey home." Naruto humbly bows to the shocked carpenter, who simply huffs and takes a swig from his sake bottle.

"Hmph, fine, meet me at the west gate at 8 am tomorrow, and don't be late! My name is Tazuna, by the way." he finishes as he walks out of the room, presumably to go get more drunk.

"Well he was..." Sasuke starts and trails off, before Naruto finishes for him.

"Charming, very charming, thank you, JiJi, we wont let you down!" Naruto smiles at his grandfather-figure, flashing him a thumbs up.

"Good, you are dismissed." Hiruzen dismisses them, as he begins to file the paperwork.

"Well, you heard the man, prepare for at least a week journey, and get plenty of rest, we will walk because Tazuna-san isn't a ninja like us so it will take longer. Ja ne!" Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, as Sasuke left to prepare and Sakura trailed him, no doubt to try and get a date.

"Well, I guess I'll go let Hina-chan know, I haven't seen her in two days anyway." Naruto says to himself, fluttering away to go meet his love.

* * *

 _"Brother, I've come to take you home..."_

A figure crept in the shadows, waiting to strike it's prey, eye's singing with determination...

* * *

He didn't know why, but he was nervous. Sure, they'd been together for a fair amount of time and he knew that she loved him to death, but he still felt nervous about telling her that he was leaving for a mission. They had spent a lot of time together in the past month and he didn't want her getting sad at the sudden departure and separation.

'Aha! I know, I need to get her something to remember me by while I'm gone!' Naruto thinks to himself, praising himself for his ingenuity and quick thinking.

 _'Wow kit, I'm surprised you thought of that all by yourself'_ the demon fox in his head chuckles _'I'm almost proud of you, you ditched the orange, found yourself a girl and almost beat a Jounin in a spar, WITHOUT me. Good job, naru-chan'_

'Ma don't mention it, I'm far from the best I can be. I'm just focused of Hina-hime right now.'

 _'As you should be. Know what you're getting her?'_

'Yup, just watch.'

He swung by the Yamanaka flower shop, surprising Ino with his presence. She looked at him strangely for a second before opening her mouth to speak.

"Oi! Naruto-baka, what're you doing here? Mess things up with Hinata already?" she asked, figuring the only reason the blonde boy would stop by a flower shop of all places is to kiss up to someone.

"Well, no, it's just that I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow for a week and I want to give her something to remember me by while I'm gone, so I figured getting her some flowers wasn't too shabby of an idea, ne?" he asks the other blonde ninja in front of him, putting on a gentle smile.

"Hmm, I guess not, Naruto. What can I get ya?" she asks, preparing to fetch whatever flowers he may need"

"I need a dozen lavender roses, with 4 white daisies thrown in there, the roses for love and the daisies for her innocence and purity." Naruto states, catching the girl off guard with his decent knowledge of flowers and their subsequent meanings.

"O-ok, I got you Naruto." she heads off to get the flowers and arrange them as he asked. It was strange, he really had changed, almost too much. Making a mental note to investigate that later, she returns to the desk, bouquet in hand. "Here ya go, have a nice day!" she called out to him as the boy left her fathers store on his way to his next destination. 'I NEED to get to the bottom of this, maybe Sakura will help...'

Next was the Akamichi restaurant/bakery. He knew that she had loved their cinnamon rolls and sweet red-bean soup, so he decided to go pick up some.

"Hey, Naruto! How ya doing pal?" Chouji called out to him as he walked in the door, waving and smiling at him.

"I'm good, Chouji, thanks for asking, I'm just here to pick up some food." he informs the oversized fighter, who took out his notepad and got ready to write down his order.

"You guys prepare, Naruto is here!" he yells at the cooks, who know that the beast boy can put down a ton of food, when he wants to. And boy does he want to.

But not now. "Ne, Chouji, I'm actually just picking up a dozen cinnamon rolls and a large sweet red-bean soup for me and Hinata-chan." he says before the cooks get all riled up.

"Ah, stand down! False alarm!" Chouji yells at the cooks, who visibly breathe a sigh of relief, before totaling the order and putting it in. "What's the occasion?"

"I'm leaving on a mission, and I figured id spend some time with her, throw a picnic, got her some flowers, the basics yano?" Naruto smiles at the Akamichi, who smiles back and firmly nods.

"Indeed, well in that case I won't keep you or her waiting, here ya go." he hands the food to Naruto, who bows slightly to him in respect, as he says his goodbyes and walks out the door.

His last stop was a souvenir shop, picking up a small plush fox and stuffing it in his shirt, so it can catch a bit of his scent before he gives it to her. He arrived at the Hyuuga manor, gifts in his hand as he informs the guards of his business, who reluctantly but willingly let him by, on his way to one Hyuuga Hinata's door.

* * *

Sakura had been following Sasuke for about 30 minutes now, shadowing him as he went and bought tools, scrolls, and all the essential mission supplies he needed. She was fairly sure that he knew she was there but she didn't care, she was determined to win Sasuke over and shove it in Ino's face. _'I can do this, I have the advantage, I'm on his team. Ino-pig can just get over it, cha!'_

Sasuke, who had known that his pink haired teammate was following him, grunted in annoyance, praying for a moment of peace and tranquility from the horrendous onslaught of his fan club. He had even cursed the heavens that one had ended up on his team. _'Log, damn you! Why must I suffer so?'_

Reaching the homestretch, the road right in front of the once superior and mighty Uchiha can compound, he picked up speed, channeling chakra into his legs hoping to reach the gate in time, and subsequently lock it before the girl could get in, but she wasn't about to go down without a fight. Channeling into her legs, Sakura bolted, nd it became a foot race.

Nearing the end of the footrace, it appeared Sasuke had the lead, grinning wildly at his freedom...until he tripped over a rock, and came crashing and rolling into the compound, Sakura right behind him, walking up to him with a worried face.

"Oh are you ok Sasuke-kun, here, let me help you, come on, get up, we need to get your shirt off to check you for injuries, I'm sorry, come on-"

"ENOUGH!" Sasuke yells out, stunning the fan girl into quietness. "This wouldn't have happened if you weren't so damn invested in winning me over! You should be training, Sakura, you're the weakest of our group. As much as you make fun of Naruto, he's improved leaps and bounds, hell, he's beaten me in many spars since then and I'm coming to accept that I need to work harder in order to catch up to the dobe! So you-" he points at her, looking at her with a menacing face "can either leave, or I will make you."

She sat there, stunned for a second before turning away from Sasuke, as to not let him see her tears. "I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun...I-I'll go..." she mumbles, before sprinting off into the sky as the sun starts its decent. She found herself running and running, to where she didn't know, but she collapsed at training ground 37, in the middle of a clearing, with tears staining her cheeks, eyes red and puffy from the emotions she had been letting out.

 _'W-what am I doing with myself? Maybe Sasuke-kun is right, I AM the weakest link in our group. But what do I do? Naruto has immense reserves, good Taijutsu and I_ know _he's hiding_ something _from us. And Sasuke, well, he has the Sharingan, and his clan lineage to help him out. Both have a good support system, and here I just push away anyone who likes me or comes close to me that isn't Sasuke-kun.'_ she dries her tears with her hands, and opens her eyes, with a renewed determination on her face _'But no! I am a Kunoichi of the Village hidden in the Leaves and I WILL prevail! You hear me?'_ "I WILL NOT LET MYSELF HOLD MY TEAMMATES DOWN, CHA!" She screams out, leaping to her feet and fist-pumping into the air, before running up to a tree and punching it as hard as she can, watching it split in half, not shatter like the Slug Sannin can make it, but still impressive for a Genin.

"Hehe, I think I found what I'm looking for." and with that, she got to work, putting her book knowledge into use, using it to practice fine tuning her chakra control, in turn using that to empower her punches tenfold.

* * *

 _Knock knock knock..._

Hiashi arose from the chair in his study, rising to answer the door and confront whoever interfered in his study time. He opened the door to reveal the shining face of one Naruto Uzumaki, with gifts in hand for his daughter. "Ah, Naruto, what can I do for you at this hour?"

He bows to Hiashi, before issuing his response. "I only wish for your grace in taking Hinata-chan out for a few hours right now. I am sorry it is on short notice but me and team seven have just received put first C ranked mission and we will be away for approximately a week and I would like to spend time with her before I go."

Hiashi gives him a small smirk, before nodding to the young ninja. "You may indeed, Naruto. I am, however, deeply impressed with your vocabulary and the humbleness in your voice, but you know you mustn't talk to me like that, I know who you are and how you are, and I accept you for it." He gives a slight bow back to Naruto, who just grins at the Hyuuga clan leader.

"Haha, yeah I know Hiashi-san, I have been working on it, though. It never hurts to have the skills to take a situation down before it escalates into something it probably shouldn't reach." Naruto explains to Hiashi, who nods in understanding, agreeing with his reasoning.

"Indeed, you are right, but I'm afraid we both must go now, for you have a date with my daughter, and I have a date with the devil." Hiashi grimaces. _'paperwork...'_

"Farewell then, Hiashi-san, I wish you the best in your endeavors in tackling the devil that is paperwork, and pray you find the secret that will lead to it's ultimate demise. Ja ne." he bows to Hiashi, before heading off to his hime's door, sighing a quick sigh to release the nerves before knocking on her door.

She opened the door, smiling at the blonde in front of her. "Naruto-kun, what brings you by here?" she asked, dressed in a pair of black pants and a v-cut shirt, her hair tied into a simple ponytail.

He took her hand and kissed the back of it gently. "Milady, would you like to accompany me on a date this fine afternoon. I would surely appreciate it very much." he bowed to her, making her giggle at his antics.

"I would absolutely love to, Naruto-kun, just let me grab a light coat to cover up." she went and grabbed a coat and threw it on, as he presented the flowers to her and the stuffed fox. "Naruto-kun, I love them!" she exclaimed, giving him a peck on the cheek which made him blush, before putting the fox on her dresser and the flowers in a vase with water.

He smiled, offering an arm to her as she took it. "Shall we go, milady Hinata?" he asked, to which she simply nodded in response as they headed out to his favorite spot on top of the Hokage mountains.

* * *

 _'Soon enough, brother, soon enough...'_

* * *

The two lovers sat there, laughing and talking, eating the food that Naruto had brought and Hinata had thanked him for. Her favorites, it warmed her heart that he listened and cared about her as much as he did. Neither of them felt the presence watching over them, though.

"So, Naruto-kun, any specific reason for this impromptu picnic?" Hinata asked the burning question, looking at him contently with a smile on her face.

He smiled back at her "Well, kind of. For one I wanted a date with the most gorgeous princess I know, and two, I have some news for you." he said, noticing the blush on her face disappear real quickly.

"W-what kind of n-news, Naru-kun?" she stuttered again. 'Damn it' she thought to herself, it only happened occasionally, but still she had hoped that she had done away with it already.

"it's nothing bad, Hina-hime," he assured her, putting her at rest slightly "just team seven has a C ranked escort mission starting tomorrow and I wanted to spend some time with you before I left, that's all." he finishes with a small smile, looking her in the eye.

"O-oh, I guess I overreacted." she giggled, taking his hand in hers. His eyes were like a magnet, drawing her in to him, and as they got closer and closer, lips inches apart, the unthinkable happened...

"Unhand my brother, you foul wench!" a mysterious figures yells out, before launching a shuriken at the two forcing them to split apart.

Naruto was livid, to say the least, at the person who broke him and his girlfriend up from their soon-to-be kiss. "Ah damn it! What the hell was that, huh? Brother? I have no family!" he throws a few of his own shuriken back, watching the figure clumsily dodge.

"Surely you remember me, brother Naratu. How could you forget your own family?" the figure, who's image was clouded by a hooded robe and black mask, draws more shuriken, preparing to launch them, jumping into the air and exclaiming "Shuriken Art: Shuriken Tornado!"

"Hinata, stay behind me, this person is deranged!" Naruto shouted as he pulled a kunai and knocked all the shuriken away with ease. "Buddy, I don't even know who you are, and my name is Naruto. Na-ru-to!"

The man drops his hood and mask, revealing the face of a red haired young man, barely 16. "Surely you remember your brother, I don't know what they did to you, but I wont let these leaf ninja brainwash you, for I am Natsuro Uzahari! Shuriken Art: Drilling Saws!" now three oversized Fuuma shuriken popped up from the ground, spinning their way towards Naruto who simply jumps over them.

'Hmm, Natsuro Uzahari, Naruto Uzumaki, Naratu Uzahari...I've got it!' "Hey, mister, I think you have our names mixed up, I know they sound similar but I'm an Uzumaki, not an Uzahari." he calmly explained to the shuriken wielding ninja.

"No way, they've brainwashed you, brother! They even dyed your hair from red to blonde! What must I do to get you back! Shuriken Art: Hacksaw!" Natsuro yells, throwing three shuriken in a perfect line as they spun and vibrated dangerously fast, watching as his assumed brother dodges and takes the wench to the ground with him.

"Ok, I'm done messing around, you mess up my date and attack me with shuriken, insisting we're family when all of mine is dead! Doton: Doryuu Taiga!" Naruto exclaims after making the necessary hand seals, watching his opponent get stuck in a mud river, before making his next move, to finish it off "Time for the end!" he swiftly runs up and pulls a senbon, charging it with electricity from the air he sticks it in a vital spot on the back of Natsuro's neck, immobilizing his upper body as the river his feet were in hardened, rendering him useless.

Natsuro huffed, cursing himself for getting caught "Brother, why would you! Can't you see they've tricked you!"

"We're not brothers! What are you talking-"

"He's right." a new voice announced, as an elderly man walks into the picture, walking firm for his age "After examining the battle, and who this kid is, I know who he is now, Naruto Uzumaki, your family was once close allies of ours before their destruction and the penultimate death of your mother, Kushina. I, Narasuto Uzahari, humbly apologize for sending my son here thinking that you were my long lost son, who disappeared the night the Kyuubi swept through the land. I have been a bitter old man, and would like to take my son and return home, for I have faced the realization that my son is truly and sorrowfully gone." Narasuto bows deeply to Naruto, who in turn makes a confused face, before shrugging.

"I guess if it was a mix up, I can forgive and forget. No harm done, right?" he grins sheepishly as he releases Natsuro from the dirt and removes the senbon, watching him stretch his muscles before bowing to Naruto as well.

"I am truly sorry, and to you, I apologize for the name I have called you, it is unbefitting of the one the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan heir has chosen as his own." he walks up to Hinata and bows, kissing her knuckles in a show if humility.

"It's ok, Natsuro-san, all is well." she smiles at him, accepting his apology with a firm nod.

Narasuto motions for Natsuro to join him. "If that is all, we must take our leave and return to our compound. If you ever need anything Naruto-san, we will gladly ally ourselves with you again in any instance. Genki de Naruto-san, Hinata-san!" he waves goodbye, as Naruto and Hinata watch them disappear into the distance.

As they walked off, Naruto and Hinata turned to face the sunset, setting over the Hokage mountain as they embrace each other.

"Yano, Hime, there's one thing left to do now."

"What's that, Ouji?"

And he kissed her, as the day faded into night.

* * *

It was a so far uneventful journey, the three young ninja and the older sensei in a protective formation around their client, a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna. They hadn't encountered a single thug, nor a single animal, which was starting to worry the young blonde Uzumaki and the silver haired Hatake.

"Ne, Sasuke, do you think you would want to train on the water a little bit when we get to wave, granted its a smooth trip." Naruto asks the brooding Uchiha, who simply grunts out his infamous 'hn'.

"I guess dobe, feeling like receiving another loss?" he smirks at the blonde, who simply chuckles, returning his eyes to the road in front of him.

It had been a barren journey of trees, dirt, grass, and the rare water puddle when it hadn't rained in a good while...wait, hold on...

"Kakashi-sensei, did you see that?" the blonde asks his sensei, who nodded and prepared himself for a sneak attack at any time.

And then it happened. Out of the next puddle came two ninja, with a serrated chain blade connecting them to each other via gauntlets on their arm. With a mighty cry, they wrapped it around a frightened Kakashi and pulled, hacking him to bits as the Uchiha and Haruno watched on in shock, but Naruto was ready for this.

"Teme, plan 22!" he yells out, catching Sasuke's attention, who nods and pulls two kunai, launching them at the demon brothers.

The demon brothers went to hop over the low thrown kunai with ease, only for the two kunai to transform into clones of Naruto right before them, who then issued a kick straight into the chins of the two would-be assassins, sending them flying into the air as Sasuke and the original Naruto hop into the air above the floating ninja.

"Uzumaki Leg Drop!/Lions Barrage!" Naruto and Sasuke respectively yelled, each essentially dropping a leg onto the enemy and thrusting them down to the ground, incapacitating them as Sakura runs up and ties them up quickly, not letting them escape.

"Good job, dobe." Sasuke smirks, fist bumping Naruto. "And nice call."

"Thanks, teme." Naruto smirks back as Kakashi comes out of the bushes, clapping at his Genin for showing excellent teamwork.

"Nice job you three, time to find out why these two nukenin have attacked us" Kakashi goes to use his Sharingan on the two, but is halted by Naruto.

"Sensei, may I? I have a _technique_ I need to practice." he asks, stressing the word technique, to which Kakashi catches on to.

Kakashi shrugged, helping Naruto drag the two felled ninja into the tree-line and out of sight. "Sorry you two, but if this technique is what I think it is, you don't wanna see it." Kakashi informs the other two Genin who merely shrug, as they watch Tazuna.

A few minutes had passed before Naruto returned, a single bead of sweat rolling down his face. "They said that they were just looking for a bounty, they are poor nukenin. I tied them up to a tree, if you would like to send a note to the Hokage."

Kakashi was already summoning a dog to send the message, before turning his attention to Tazuna "Now, now, Mr. Tazuna, is there any reason you would lie to us?" the Hatake had asked, giving the poor man a eye smile, one that was sickeningly sweet.

With a sigh, Tazuna had launched into the story of Gato. About how he had taken financial control of the city through the use of thugs and sheer brutality, killing anyone who dare stood up to him and his tyranny. And now he was using the port town for his own financial gain and sucking the life out of its inhabitants. He then explained how the bridge would give them access to the main land easier. "And I swear, I would've told the truth, but we're so poor! We need your help, ninja-san!" Tazuna cries out, bowing to the four ninja in front of him.

Sighing, Kakashi puts a hand on his forehead and shakes his head at Tazuna. "I understand that, Tazuna, but this is easily a B-ranked maybe A-ranked mission now, and I have three fresh Genin with me who-"

"Are ready to kick some ass! Come on, sensei, we have you with us, what's the worst that can happen? A nukenin with a giant sword attacking us?" Naruto tries to reason, and somewhere, miles up the road, a shinobi sneezes violently.

"Naruto, there's no convincing you otherwise, huh?" Naruto shook his head. "I figured. And you two?" he looks at Sakura and Sasuke, who move up next to Naruto.

"Sensei, he's right for once, we are ready, we can take anything especially with you by our sides!" Sakura exclaims, pumping her fist into the air.

"I concur, we can't abandon the client sensei." Sasuke simply states in his monotonous voice, causing Kakashi to sigh.

"Okay, I guess we can move on, but keep your eyes peeled"

"Yatta!"

"I hope none of you get seasick easily, cuz we have a boat ride ahead of us."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, back at the leaf village...**_

She had been searching forever, looking for her target, a lavender kunoichi named Hinata, whom held the answers she was looking for but was unsure she was even gonna get them. Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction indeed brought it back, and satisfaction is what she would get. I mean, Hinata isn't that strong, is she? And since Sakura is gone, Hinata is the only viable option right now.

"Hinata! There you are, I've been looking for you!"

With a sigh, Hinata turned around to face her interrupter. "Yes, Ino, what is it that you need? I'm busy training for the next mission me and my team get."

"Oh come on, what's wrong with a girl wanting to have some girl-to-girl time with a fellow kunoichi?" Ino says with a playful slap to the shoulder.

At this Hinata grunted a bit at the blatantly obvious lie Ino thought she would get away with. "Ino-san, I have my Byakugan activated and yet you think you're gonna get away with such a blatant lie? You insult me." and Hinata played bit herself, feigning hurt by putting a hand over her heart.

Ino put a hand on the back of her head, laughing sheepishly. "Hehe, okay, you got me, I just want some answers, come ooooooooon! You can't tell me you and Naruto just happened to get strong over night."

"Ino, tread carefully, I'll tell you only once" Hinata takes a step forward imposingly "if you try to get answers out of me, you will only be met with disappointment. These are secrets I'm not privy to divulge to anyone I want to, most are locked down on Hokage-sama's orders, and you know what that means."

With Hinata stepping forward once again, Ino takes a step back, avoiding getting too close to the Hyuuga heir. "Geez, Hinata, don't be so serious, you act like I'm gonna try to get strong and steal Naruto away from you."

And that's about as far as she got before Hinata had had enough, swiftly pinning her to a nearby tree and getting in her face. "Look, I'm doing this to protect you, Ino-san, these secrets can and will get you killed, so for your own sake, learn how to stay out of other's business and but out!" emphasizing the last two words with two good shoves, stunning the Yamanaka kunoichi temporarily.

Gritting her teeth, Ino get's dropped by Hinata, who simply turns her back to her and starts to walk away. Not to be outdone by Hinata, Ino throws a kunai which sails just past Hinata's head and into a training post "Ha, I guess you really _are_ scared of me, walking away like that. I guess I'll just have to get them straight from your head. Mind Transfer-uff!" before the girl could finish that jutsu, Hinata had simply appeared in front of Ino, burying a palm into her stomach, effectively knocking her out.

"Ino, I'm sorry but it had to be done." Hinata said with a sad tone to her voice, before turning and walking away from the girl she had just knocked out, jumping into the trees and heading down the road, to her now-favorite ramen stand. Ichiraku's.

* * *

"Enter! Ah, Shikamaru-kun, what can this old man do for you?" the Hokage had been surprised to see the young Nara ninja in front of him to say the least, but he was equal parts curious as to what the genius needed from him.

Taking a seat after bowing to the elderly Hokage, he focuses his eyes on him, simply stating "I know everything. You can thank the troublesome blonde for it."

Sighing, Hiruzen pulls out a letter, confusing Shikamaru until he starts reading out of it." _"I was young and confused once myself, me, Minato Namikaze, trying to be the best ninja I could be, eventually making Hokage. It was tough, but it wasn't easy, and I found my love on the way to the top, but now I must leave all of that behind to once more save the village I grew up fighting for and killing for. I know it's not gonna be an easy road, Hiruzen, but I trust you'll care for him and watch him, and make sure he has friends who understand him for who he is and not what he holds. The last thing I want is my legacy to be mistreated and subjected to jinchuuriki treatment like the other elemental villages. Friends, they're what make us what we are, and make the other's what they are. Never forget that, my old friend. P.S. You know you're probably gonna have to step in for me, ja ne!"_ these were the last words the fourth Hokage, my friend Minato left me, Shikamaru, and I can't think of two better people for Naruto to have as friends than you and Hinata. And I thank you for that by opening my ear and my heart to any and all questions you may have for me."

Clearing his throat, Shikamaru starts to speak. "Arigatou, Hokage-sama. First off, why did you let Naruto grow up so lonely? The letter itself said to not let him be treated like all the other jinchuuriki with the exception of Nii and Bee, the eight tails and two tails, respectively, jinchuuriki's from Cloud."

"Shikamaru-san, let me explain one thing to you, I am still a strong and capable Hokage, but the years after the Kyuubi attack, the council has grown stronger and stronger in power with nothing I could do about it that wouldn't spark a civil war between clans on my side and clans on the councils side. I know now I was a fool for letting the old fools take advantage of a situation like that to gain more and more power within the village, but alas it is too late for that now for me. If I had my way, he would've known about his lineage as soon as he was old enough, but one thing stopped a lot of people from wanting to let that information slide, one thing that threatens us all." the Hokage spoke wisely, waiting for the question he knew was coming from the young ninja.

"And what is that, Hokage-sama?" hook, line and sinker.

"Fear."

Shikamaru furrowed his brow at that, but Hiruzen sat back and watched his brain go to work, smiling when he saw the lightbulb go off in his head. "I get it now. The fourth was a very strong man, one who once slayed over two hundred Iwa troops in a single battle using his Hiraishin, the jutsu that earned him the nickname 'The Yellow Flash. And I'm assuming the council was afraid that if Iwa found out about the fourth having a son, they would try to strike back and/or kill him out of bitterness from the previous war, whether it be the Tsuchikage's orders himself, or one of Iwa's ninja doing it out of spite of a family member he/she had lost to the Hiraishin. It makes sense. But, not in contrast to how he grew up."

Hiruzen pointed a finger at Shikamaru and simply said "Bingo." but Hiruzen's face went grim again, as he knew that the next topic was gonna be a lengthy and irritating one to open back up. "About the Kyuubi, I tried so hard to keep it a secret, I didn't and still don't want Naruto to be used as a weapon, but there are many in this village that will do the work no one wants to, these snakes lay in the shadows, waiting for their chance to lap up any power they're given, and knowing Naruto as a baby had the greatest of all of the tailed beasts sealed in his stomach would've made him a prime target for these snakes."

He stopped to let Shikamaru soak in the information, continuing when he nodded. "I felt as if I failed Naruto, all the beatings, mistreatment, overcharging for food, water and basic essentials, I knew that I had to enroll him in the ninja academy, he needed to learn how to protect himself. Then Heryooku stepped in, and made me feel even worse. This...spirit...did more in less than a month than I could do in twelve years. Naruto has forgiven me, Hinata has, and I now ask you, friend of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, for forgiveness for the mistreatment of your friend."

Doing something he never thought he would ever do to a Genin that wasn't Naruto, he stood up and bowed to Shikamaru, who, surprised and wide-eyed, quickly accepted the apology with a bow of his own. "Lord Hokage, I can forgive you for the mistreatment of my friend, for if he found it in his heart, so shall I."

With a nod and a handshake, the third Hokage sat back down at his desk, grabbing his pipe and was about to light it up before he remembered to check to make sure he cleaned it. As he did, he dropped it and it rolled to a stop in front of Shikamaru's feet, who picked it up and examined it. "L-lord Hokage, you smoke-"

"Yes, yes I do smoke pot. Damn it this hasn't been my best of months- Wait what are you doing?" he asks Shikamaru, who was simply lighting it up, taking a big hit off of it, and smiling at the old man.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting high."

"Shikaku, forgive me...but me and your son are just about to get higher than the water demand in Suna"

* * *

 _ **Back in wave, on a boat...**_

"So...I spy-"

"Damn it baka, shut up!"

"Hey, I have the engine shut off for a reason, you two, it's so they can't hear us!"

"Oh so even the boat driver has something to say, this is fun!"

"You two, as your sensei I order you to be quiet!"

"Like that's ever worked, Kakashi- _chan_ "

"I hate you all."

"I'm dead..."

"We're here! Now off!"

Ah, dry land and barely any mist, how good it must've felt to be on solid ground once more as the shinobi and bridge builder disembark from the boat and tip a thanks to the brave man for braving the water and taking them to the land of waves.

For the most part, again, it was a relatively quiet trip, trees, trees, more trees, moss, moss on top of moss on top of a tree, a few snakes that made Sakura scream louder than Ino when they had purple outfits fifty percent off, and a white rabbit...wait, not again.

Naruto didn't even have to go up to Kakashi for him to know that Naruto knew. He gave Naruto a secret signal to again prepare for immediate battle, and as the mist grew thicker and thicker, immediate came closer and closer to being...

"Everybody duck now!" Kakashi ordered, and everybody did right before a giant sword came spinning their way, intent on decapitating the lot of ninja.

As Naruto stood up, he couldn't help but have a little laugh about the odds of this happening. "Hey sensei, remember when I said nukenin with a giant sword?"

"Naruto...shut...up..." Kakashi grumbled out.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake." a man appeared on top of the thrown sword, his mouth covered in bandages. It was none other than the demon of the bloody mist.

Zabuza Momochi.

"Zabuza Momochi, what business do you have interfering with Konoha nin?" Kakashi asks, preparing to reveal his ace in the hole, his Sharingan, the only thing that could help him defeat Zabuza. 'Dammit, I'm no good against that sword, it's gonna have to come to it.'

Zabuza chuckled darkly before speaking. "Oh nothing, just my client wants a certain someone dead, and you happen to be protecting him, let's play a game, shall we?" with that he disappeared with his sword into the mist, as it got thicker and thicker.

"Liver...lungs...spleen-"

"Futon: Daitoppa!" and with the blast of wind from Naruto, the mist was gone and Zabuza revealed, standing a distance away from them. "Sorry, mummy-chan, but that's not gonna happen today, meet Naruto Uzumaki!" he grinned, sticking a thumbs up out there.

"Naruto, stay behind me and protect Tazuna-san-uh!" he grunted as a clone whipped behind Kakashi and kicked him forward into the water prison that Zabuza had waiting for him.

"Suiton: Suirou no jutsu-successful" Zabuza chuckled, holding the Jounin captive in his water prison. "Now, Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!" he formed two water clones, one for Sasuke and one for Naruto, confident that it was enough to handle the Genin. "And I'm feeling generous today, I'll even let you form a plan.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura and walked to them, huddling with them. "Look, even though they are clones, they are still decently strong, about Chuunin level, so I have a plan to take on of them out, but it'll only work for one and it'll only work once, if it works, we can team on the second one, so here's the plan..."

After getting the plan sorted out, Naruto and Sasuke stepped forward to face the Jounin nukenin's clones. They stared as the clones slowly walked forward and forward, waiting for the right time to strike. As they neared 20 feet from the two boys, Naruto let out a cry of "Now!" as they both back-flipped away from the clones and sakura let loose a few senbon, and one was lucky enough to just miss Naruto on his downward descent, instead burying itself in between the eyes of one unlucky clone. But there was no time for a celebration.

"Good job, but you got lucky, let's see if you can do it again" Zabuza said with a dark chuckle.

"Naruto, formation 2, plan 12!"

And with that the two boys leapt into action, trying to take on the clone in a Taijutsu brawl, but they were quickly over powered. Naruto launched into a dropkick only to be swatted away like a fly as Sasuke tried launching paunches at Zabuza's head, only for the clone to dodge each one expertly and kick him square in the chest, forcing Sasuke back towards Sakura.

The two regrouped, and Kakashi watched on from the ball of water that held him from interfering, wincing each time one of them would take a hit from the mist clone. It all came to a head and Kakashi was truly worried when Sasuke had been knocked out of action, leaving only Naruto.

Sasuke fell back with a grunt, unable to move as the Zabuza clone retreated for a mere second, only to grab the sword from Zabuza, intent on cutting the jinchuuriki in half.

Naruto, panting, could only smile right now, worrying Tazuna, Sakura and Kakashi as he looked to the sky and grinned 'Mom, it's time.'. grabbing a scroll from his hip pouch, he looked at Zabuza and his sensei, smiling still as he prepares to unseal the scroll. "Kakashi-sensei, I still have many surprises left, and this is one!" he yelled, unsealing the scroll as a massive cloud of smoke hid him from sight, blinding Zabuza, his clone as well as Kakashi from Naruto, what happened next shocked everyone.

Out from the smoke launched Naruto, a sword that neither Kakashi nor Zabuza had seen in years in his hand, as he made a downward slash at the clone who barely blocked it, before following up with more slashes, jabs, stabs, he had the clone on the ropes with the superior sword style, it was only a matter of time before...

"Hyaa!" and with that, a stab that snuck through the clones defenses and hit center mass in the stomach, the clone was now no more. "Now, Zabuza, prepare, Raiton-" before Naruto could activate the lightning jutsu, Zabuza jumped back, avoiding getting electrocuted but subsequently allowing Kakashi the escape, who jumped to Naruto's side, smiling and still panting.

"Hmph, you may have defeated my clone, but you still have me to-urk!" a sea of senbon needles hit Zabuza, forcing him to collapse as a Mist ANBU hunter nin appeared, stepping up to Zabuza.

"Thank you for weakening my target, but now I'm afraid I must go." the ninja tried vanishing, but both Kakashi knew something was up.

"Ha, you're good, fake-hunter-san, but even I, a Genin, knows that when you catch a target you dissect the body immediately." Naruto laughed, even harder hearing the fake hunter nin curse under his/her mask.

"Stand down, or we will be forced to engage-dodge!" Kakashi jumped and knocked Naruto to the ground, avoiding the senbon that had been thrown by the ninja as he/she escaped, taking Zabuza with him/her.

Standing up and brushing themselves off, they met with the downed but conscious Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna, who was trembling, but safe.

Sasuke, although was hurt, was more than curious about the sword in his blonde teammates hands. "D-dobe, where'd you get that s-s-sword?"

"Teme, don't worry about it, I'll explain it all when we reach Tazuna's house, but we need to move and get you to a stable place. Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto had formed two clones, one to carry Sasuke and one to take his place on watch. "You understand your jobs?" they nodded. "Good, Kakashi-sensei, you ready?"

Kakashi nodded, giving them the order to move out, and on the way to the old bridge builders house. Thankfully, no nukenin with giant swords stood in the way this time...

* * *

 **authors note:** another 9300 word chapter for my absence, and some of y'all might be wondering why I'm giving Naruto this much power this early. It's simple, I'm making it to where he wasn't as stupid as he was and is in other fics. In another persons fic he may have this power but he's not smart enough to wield it properly, that's the difference. He's smarter here and smart enough to wield shadow clones the right way and nature manipulation the right way. About him almost beating Kakashi in a spar, Kakashi didn't have his Sharingan eye open, so he had the slight disadvantage since Naruto had the Purotekutaai on. Ja ne for now! Read and Review!


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